eee gs Oe ee eee A a eee a Oy ee eae re SEES OTS «YAN! PE ANN ASTER, C4; 8 WORT babbhd ach ied ik MR kd 5 inser ae er oS ’ P ‘ : he = Sos : 7 t on * : S +e : o a * ns e " a ~ = Tn et at ! - * . a a . 7 S a itr. ? . : 4 . , owas é, - a ¥ . , ‘ : Py : F : x . a - . ey 7 . 7 # : Ao, . = 7 + ; + ’ ’ 2 v ‘ 7 os . ; : : P AG TAI, 2 ~an innratame kecmawes “ - ’ 7 ree IE NE ier em ct chk PET Ie” anal aie RM ot met daw ag yore my ete QK306 FA Popuiiaut & Gray Herbarium Purchase August 1970 fr b i ee x ARs, mae f ~~, > a PKS : ’ * , aa ae 4 ) hie ¥ mm : * 7 . - y i, = y M s ? } mW 4 - - ‘ 7 / i ‘ 5 ra H ; eek ' af ‘ 4 a , Ly r a ——~ = am ae red = Se THE FLORA OF BERKSHIRE DRUCE MAY 24 1904 HENRY FROWDE, M.A. PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD LONDON, EDINBURGH, AND NEW YORK THE FLORA OF BERKSHIRE BEING A TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL ACCOUNT |. & | OF THE FLOWERING PLANTS AND FERNS FOUND IN THE COUNTY WITH SHORT BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OF THE BOTANISTS WHO HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO BERKSHIRE BOTANY DURING THE LAST THREE CENTURIES BY GEORGE CLARIDGE DRUCE, How. M.A. Oxon. SHERIFF OF THE CITY OF OXFORD CURATOR OF THE FIELDING HERBARIUM AUTHOR OF ‘THE FLORA OF OXFORDSHIRE,’ ‘THE FLORA OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, ETC, Oxford AT THE CLARENDON PRESS ; 1897 5 sa Nearer v7 p wT O"4 3 6! Ie spikes ¢ : toe \4 > LIBRARY a | : a : A, , Fa NEW YORE ov a o) We AY at Ling BOTANICAL «= 7a, plies GARDEN © i MAY24.1904 OfAVEAT : nM Yilenz vin A , : VAANEL ous aie i stig es, to re i - . y l : . a z ; . . , Orford e PRINTED AT THE CLARENDON PRESS BY HORACE HART, M.A. PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY "aie TO HER MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY QUEEN VICTORIA THESE INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE FLORA OF THE ROYAL COUNTY ARE BY PERMISSION DEDICATED AS THE RESPECTFUL TRIBUTE OF A STUDENT TO HIS SOVEREIGN IN THE SIXTIETH YEAR OF HER BENEFICENT REIGN MDCCCXCVII | | LIBRARY NEW YORK BOTANICAL a ee ee isi , . k VL eo j 4 FJ ¥ di ‘ ? '. { ; wage il ‘oe ° eae ne anol PREFACE THE kind reception which was given to my Flora of Oxfordshire, and the honour which the University of Oxford conferred upon me on the completion of that work, led me, after ascertaining that it was not hkely that Mr. James Britten would ever publish the Flora of Berkshire which he at one time contemplated, to attempt the compilation of a similar work myself. The scanty leisure which a business life allows me has for the last ten years been to a great extent occupied in visiting every parish of the beautiful and varied district comprised in the Royal county, and investigating its botany; but it must be borne in mind that however minute and assiduous the research of the botanist in such a case may be, finality can never be attained, since only a small portion comparatively of the actual surface of the ground coties within his observation, and that only for a short time. 3 I believe, however, that the salient botanical features of the county have been noted, and I hope that the account of the dis- tribution of the commoner plants will be found in the main trustworthy. The plan adopted has been to call a plant generally distributed when I have found it in several places in each of a hundred parishes, and widely distributed when I have noted its occurrence in from sixty to seventy parishes. This has enabled me to save space by refraining from giving lists of localities for the commoner species. In other instances a selection of localities only is given, and a complete list only of the less common plants ; Vill PREFACE but for these usually no precise locality is given, in order to avoid the destruction of the rarer species. Besides giving the distribution of plants through Berkshire. I have endeavoured to recount the history of their discovery in the county; for this purpose I have made an arduous search through botanical literature since the publication of Turner's Herbal in 1551. The great public Herbaria of the British Museum at South Kensington, the Oxford University Herbarium, and that of Sir James E. Smith in the custody of the Linnean Society, have been examined, and much information has been obtained from MSS. in the British Museum, the Bodleian, in the Library of Magdalen College, Oxford, and in that of the Oxford Botanic Garden. To the keepers of the above institutions, especially to Professor Vines, I am indebted for the requisite permission to examine their treasures. To my friend Mr. Garnsey, of Magdalen College, Oxford, I cannot sufficiently express my sense of indebtedness for the immense help and almost unceasing assistance he has given me in revising my MS. and examining the proofs. My friend Mr. F. Tufnail, of Reading, has also been most kind and painstaking in reading the MS. and proof-sheets, in preparing lists of plants seen about Reading and Mortimer, and in generously giving critical advice and assistance. Mr. W. A. Clarke and Mr. F. T. Richards have also assisted in reading some portions of the proof-sheets. The late Professor A. H. Green, whose premature death we have such reason to deplore, kindly revised my sketch of the geology of the county, and Mr. Stone, the late Radcliffe Observer, gave me the figures used in the compilation of the meteorological tables. For assistance in examining critical species I am indebted to M. Crépin of Brussels, Dr. Focke of Bremen, Professor Hackel of St. Poelton, Dr. Lange of Copenhagen, Dr. R. von Wettstein and Professor A. Kerner von Marilaun of Vienna, Herr Freyn of Prague, Professor Ascherson of Berlin, the Abbé Strail of Fonds de Forét, Belgium, the late M. Alphonse de Candolle of Geneva, Professor Engler of Breslau, Professor Greene of Washington, PREFACE 1X Professor Haussknecht of Weimar, the R&v. W. M. Rogers, the Rev. E. F. Linton, the Rev. E. S. Marshall, Messrs. F. J. Hanbury, A. Fryer, H. G. and J. Groves, Arthur Bennett, &c. I am under great obligation to the Delegates of the Clarendon Press for kindly undertaking the publication of this work, and to their compositors and readers, who have done their respective work in so excellent a manner. At the completion of the book, which has been perhaps unduly delayed, I leave the investigation of the county flora with con- siderable reluctance. since the field work especially has been of a very pleasant nature, having conducted me into healthy and charming scenery, and gained for me many agreeable and valued friendships. I sincerely trust that the work, notwithstanding its avowed imperfections, may be deemed worthy to take its place in the list of county floras, and that the mistakes which, in an under- taking of this kind, seem bound to occur, may not be so numerous or so grave in character a; {o materially mar its efficiency. I can only hope that the cloud which now rests upon systematic botany in Britain may soon be dispelled, and if this work should be the means of adding a single one to the list of those who seek delight in the investigation of nature, my labours, and they have not been slight, will be amply rewarded. GEORGE CLARIDGE DRUCE. Lawers, PERTHSHIRE, Aug. 10, 1897. Additional notes to the County Flora will always be welcomed. They may be sent to the Author, 118 High Street, Oxford. ae Sip | é ‘ ‘ ~, ~ ; . ' ‘ A ‘ , ; i ‘ Y ‘ ‘ P ~ ~~ im i , fh 2 ‘ iy Tanah Tak We : : . m, ’ Jay Pe) 5S taten | NO, 9 genet 8) 0 ) { ua Va eee ees CONTENTS —+o— PAGE INTRODUCTION ‘ : : , ; : F xili Topography. “Acreage ; F : : ‘ xill Agricultural Reports : e : : f Xiv Elevation of Surface : , : ; 2 XV Woods and Forests . : : . ; : xix Meteorology . : : ; : ; 2 Xxlil Geology of Berkshire : : : : P XXV1 The River Drainage. : : : : ‘ xlvii The Botanical Districts ; : 2 : } liii The Botanologia of Berkshire 5 ‘ , ; X¢clv Plan of the Flora. : ‘ ; : . elxxxvii Herbaria consulted . : ‘ ' ‘ : excel List of Books and MSS. quoted __.. : : ; excil ' Additions and Corrections . ‘ : : . exeviil Signs and Abbreviations . : : : : ce THE FLORA PROPER : 7 ; : : ; I SUMMARY . Bh 3 ; : 7 3 : 625 INDEX TO THE GENERA . : P : ; : 637 List oF SUBSCRIBERS 4 : : 5 ; ; 642 | 2 ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS Page elv, 1. 5, for T. read J. 99 ” exl, 1. 5, for Filiaceae read Tiliaceae. exlvii, 1. 3. Insert ‘Samuel Rudge was born at Thornhaugh in Northamptonshire in 1728, and was High Sheriff of that county in 1792. He lived at Elstree, Herts, for 38 years. Studied botany from 1750. He died at Watlington, Oxford- shire, in 1817.’ Iam indebted to Messrs. Britten and Boulger for this note, which they have copied from their MS. of the new edition of the ‘Biographical Index of British and Irish Botanists.’ elxxx, 1. 25, delete Vicia gracilis. excii, 1. 38. Insert Britten and Boulger. Biographical Index of British and Irish Botanists in Journ. of Botany. excix. To the list of Buckinghamshire plants observed by me may be added Juncus diffusus and Nitella flexilis. 82, 1. 33, under Dianthus deltoides, insert ‘ Near Carswell in a rough sandy pasture, probably native, Miss M. Nevins,’ thus removing the doubt as to its being a Berkshire plant. 123, 1. 13, under Impatiens Noli-tangere, insert ‘By a stream near Binfield, The Lord Bishop of Reading.’ In this locality it is probably an escape from cultivation. 151, 1. 6 from bottom, under Vicia gracilis, note that I have now seen the specimen in Mr. Boswell’s herbarium labelled V. gracilis, and find it to be (as I suspected) V. gemella, var. tenuissima. 234, 1.27. Aslightly earlier record for Smyrnium by Blackstone will be found in his Fasciculus of 1737. 236, 1. 20. Insert 5. Loddon. On Waycock Field near Hare Hatch, Hearne MS., as pointed out to me by Mr. D. W. Rannie. 516, 1. 2, add ‘ Wootton bog, Herb. Bosvwell.’ 516, 1. 12, put ? to P. fluitans, as Mr. A. Fryer now tells me he does not think the Berkshire plant should be called by that name. As I stated, I believe the plant to be a hybrid either of P. natans or P. polygonifolius with P. alpinus. Mr. Fryer thinks it to be a form of P. polygonifolius. Flora of Berkshire. FLORA OF BERKSHIRE INTRODUCTION. TOPOGRAPHY. BERKSHIRE, or, as it is frequently called, Berks, is a southern inland county lying between 51°-20’ and 51°48’ north latitude and between 353 and 1°43’ west longitude. The name, according to Camden, was given from a ‘stripped or bark-bare oak,’ used as a signal-place to which the people repaired in time of trouble to make their general defence. Asser Menevensis, according to Lysons in the Magna Britannia, says that it was derived from a wood called Barroc, in which Box-trees abounded, but this view does not appear to have any good foundation. A Barroe Wood is mentioned in a charter of King John quoted in Dugdale’s Monasticon, and the other estates mentioned in the charter are situated between Wantage and Lambourn. Maps of no very distant date show a Berrie Wood in the neighbourhood of Wokingham. By some writers the name is supposed to come from ‘ Beorce,’ the Beech, by others from the Bibroci, the tribe inhabiting West Berkshire. In Saxon times the county was known as Berroe-scyree By the Latin authors it was called Bercheria. After the Danish conquest it was known as Baressyre. The county is of a very irregular shape. Fuller, writing about it in The Worthies (published in 1662), says ‘it may be fancied ... like a lute lying along, whose belly is towards the west, whilst the narrow neck or long handle is towards the east.” On the north it is bounded by Oxfordshire, on the east by the same county and Buckinghamshire, on the south-east and south by Surrey and Hampshire, and on the west by Wiltshire and Gloucestershire. These boundaries will be fully described later on. Various statements have been made as to the superficial area: in Rocque’s Map of Berkshire, published in 1761, the county is said to contain 438,977 acres. Dr. Beeke, a botanist referred to in the Botano- logia, writing about the year 1790, estimated the number of acres at 464,500. The Report published by the House of Lords in 1805 zave the area at 744 statute miles or 476,160 acres, but Arrowsmith XIV FLORA OF BERKSHIRE says 758 square miles or 485,120 acres. These varying estimates may perhaps be caused by the insulated portions which belong to Wiltshire having in some cases been included in the Berkshire acreage. The estimate of 450,132 acres is obtained from the En- cyclopaedia Britannica of 1875. Johnston, in the Dictionary of Geography of 1877, gives the area as 703 square miles, equal to 450,132 acres, while the Agricultural Returns for 1891 and 1892 make the total number of acres to be 462,503. There are twenty-eight counties of England larger than Berkshire. The counties of about the same size are Oxfordshire, Bucks, Surrey, Worcestershire, and Westmoreland. The county contains a Royal Castle, which has for centuries been the home of our English monarchs ; and six municipal boroughs are still included in its bounds, as well as nineteen hundreds and about 180 parishes. In Mavor’s General View of the Agriculture of Berkshire of 1809, Dr. Beeke, the Rector of Ufton, is quoted for the following figures as to the manner in which the acreage is made up :— Arable land 2 : / . about 255,000 acres Meadow and dairy land i in ‘the vale 72 OOO * iy Sheep-walks, chiefly uninclosed, on the chalk-hills. 25,000, Other dry pastures, parks, &e. . : : : F 25,000, Wastes, chiefly barren heaths . : : : : 80;000" | 3; Woods, copses, &c. . ‘ 30,000 =»; Space occupied by puildings, roads, rivers, ke. ; 27 5 OOm ins Mr. Pearce’s Report, made about the year 1800, gave the following as the distribution of land in the county :— The inclosed lands, parks, and woods contain about 170,000 acres The common fields and downs . f “ : - 220,000 —,, The forests, wastes,and commons . ‘ : ° 40,000 ,, Roads . - - ° - “ - A 2 - O O77 as It is only fair to Dr. Mavor to say that he considered the estimate of the common fields to be too much by 30,000 acres. The Imperial Gazetteer gives the following figures :— Arable ground . ; : . : . : : 260,000 acres Meadows . 5 : : - : ; ; 70,000 — aan Parks and sheep-walks ’ 5 : : ‘ : 58,000" > as Wood . : . . , . ‘ a ‘ 3 30,000, Waste. ; ; A : ‘ : . ; . 20,000) ae The following figures are obtained from the Agricultural Reports :— Corn-crops— 1891. 1892. 1893. =: 1894. Wheat. . - 44,752 44,517 — 38,496 38,867 Barley. Pe 32,548 30,236 31,483 30,499 Oats . P : . o) -egO,ang 32,326 34,037 37,072 Rye . P 5 : : : 567 437 L,2RE 2,841 Beans ; ; : : . 7,720 7,157 5,251 5,488 Beas ee one EO 4,358 4,952 5,401 Total corn-crops . «120,378, 1Rgs0g0 115,330 120,168 INTRODUCTION a Green crops— 1891. 1892. 1893. 1894. Potatoes . : : : : 2,211 2,227 2,340 2,107 Turnips . : : : » 27,5027 28,140 28,173 27,319 Mangold . z 5,822 6,009 6,004 5,745 Cabbage, Kohl Rabi, and Rape 2,531 2,37 2,468 2,998 Vetches . : : ~ "10,495 9,567 8,025 7,020 Other green crops . : - 1,032 942 1,197 1,542 Total green crops . - 49,898 49,263 48,207 46,731 Clover, sainfoin, grasses, for hay 35,269 31,787 28,602 29,419 ” ” ” not for hay 7,438 7:447 8,926 6,782 Total : ‘ 42,707 39,234 37,528 36,201 Permanent pasture, for hay . 73,726 69.767 58,163 77,059 Pe 2 not for hay 81,575 88,666 101,244 82,227 Total é . 155,301 158,433 159,407 159,286 Flax . : : : : ‘ 5 II 4 —_ Hops . : : - : II 10 II II Small fruit . j d : ; 289 302 391 522 Bare fallow ‘ ‘ : : 7,490 8,712 11,008 8,648 Nursery ground . E : 113 123 — 117 Mountain and heathland . : — 1,514 — 1,417 1888. 1892. Woods. : 3 : : : : : 31,024 35,829 Berkshire was considered by the older agricultural authorities to consist of four well-marked divisions. 1. The Vale, containing all the land north of the Ridgeway, its chief soil being a strong loam which produces abundant crops of wheat and beans, &e. 2. The Chalk Hills, which occupy the central parts of the county, their northern portion consisting of grassy downs, where large flocks of sheep are fed, and on which there are some extensive training-stables for racehorses, while the arable portions of the district are well adapted for turnips, barley, &e. 3. The Kennet Vale, where the soil is usually gravelly or light loam on which turnips and barley are grown. The irrigated meadows of the Kennet yield excellent pasturage, while extensive osier planta- tions are maintained near the stream for basket-making. 4. The Forest Division, which commences on the east of the Loddon and extends across the breadth of the county to Old Windsor. In this district all the preceding varieties of soil are found, but a very large proportion of the country is either open heathland, pine plantations, _or the woodland tracts or parks of Windsor Forest. ELEVATION OF SURFACE. Although the highest point in Berkshire does not reach 1,000 feet above the sea, there is probably no equally level county which can compare with it in the picturesque character of its scenery ; while its Xvi FLORA OF BERKSHIRE rich meadows, the graceful outlines of the chalk hills, its high breezy heathlands, its sombre pinewoods, and its stately royal park and forest, afford varied and delightful scenes of quiet and peaceful beauty. The contour of the county is rather unusual. Ifa section of it were made from north to south from Lechlade to the Hampshire border, which is to the south of Hungerford, it would be found that on the north the river Thames at Lechlade is about 250 feet above the sea level. From this level the country rises and attains the height of 465 feet on Badbury Hill. This hill is on the western side of a range which stretches nearly west and east, its highest eastern points being Pickett’s Heath, which is 535, and Wytham Hill, which is 539 feet above the sea. This range slopes gently down to the south so that near Shrivenham its altitude is about 200 feet. The country then rises rapidly to the summit of the White Horse Hill, which is 840 feet high. This chalk ridge, like the preceding range of hills which belong to the Coralline formation, also runs in a direction which is nearly west to east; in fact, it is one of the four ranges of chalk hills which radiate from the high ground of Salisbury Plain’. In its progress through Berkshire it sinks slightly in elevation, so that while on the White Horse it is 840%, at Wantage it is 740, at Letcombe Castle it is 690, at Lowbury it is 585, and at King Standing Hill it is only 391 feet above the sea: the river Thames at Mongewell is about 160 feet above sea level. Returning to consider the imaginary section on the west of the county it will be found that from the summit of the White Horse Hill the ground gradually slopes towards the Kennet, which enters the county near Hungerford ; there the river is about 328 feet above the sea, while at its outfall into the Thames at Reading it is not more than 123 feet. This river runs also in a direction nearly west and east in Berkshire. From the trough of the valley at Hungerford the ground soon rises in an abrupt escarpment of the Chalk to the greatest altitude which this formation reaches in southern England, namely, on Walbury Camp, which is 959 feet above the sea; the neighbouring hill, called Gibbet Hill, reaches 955 feet, and in the slight depression between the two hills there is a small pond which is 912 feet above the sea. This range does not 1 The four great ranges of chalk hills which radiate from Salisbury Plain are: (1) The range which, under the names of the Marlborough Downs, the Chiltern Hills, and the East Anglian Heights, the Lincoln Wolds, and the Yorkshire Wolds, extends as far as to Flamborough Head. The line is not unbroken throughout, as the Thames, the Wash, and the Humber cut through it. (2) The range called the North Downs, which terminates at the cliffs of Dover. (3) The range known as the South Downs, which runs through Hampshire, and terminates at Beachy Head. (4) The range known as the Dorset Heights, with the prolongation Blackdown Hill and Purbeck Heights. 2 Not 893 feet as given in the Encyc. Brit. es INTRODUCTION XVii pursue the easterly direction for any considerable distance, but turns southwards and soon leaves the county. It will thus be seen that the county slopes from west to east, and that three distinct ranges of hills traverse it from the west to the east. South of the Kennet, to the east of the point where the chalk range leaves the county, the country rises in a gentle slope, and separates for some distance the valley of the Emborne' from that of the Kennet; but the height of the hilly ground forming the watershed is only about 400 feet on Greenham Common, and this height gradually sinks eastwards, Crookham Common being 382, Burghfield 313, and Sulhampstead only 300 feet above sea level. To the south of Reading the watershed of the Blackwater is formed by hilly ground belonging to the Tertiary formations. The river enters Berkshire at a point where the height of the surface of the water is about 200 feet above the sea, its outfall near Twyford, after its june- tion with the Loddon, being about roo feet. The hills in this southern part of the county are not arranged in regular lines as are those already mentioned, but are irregularly scattered over the area. In the south- east there is a flat tract between Twyford and Maidenhead, of which a considerable extent is less than 150 feet, and some not more than 90 feet above the sea. East of Twyford a rather conspicuous and picturesque group of hills is formed by the London Clay, one of which, Bowsey Hill, reaches an altitude of 454 feet, Ashley Hill being 358, and Crazey Hill 316 feet above the sea. On the south-west the same formation rises into a hilly country, which on Hawthorn Hill is 248, on St. Leonard’s 294, and on High Standing Hill and Cranbourn Park is 280 feet above the sea. South-west of Wokingham the ground rises at Finchampstead to 320 feet, and overlooks the valley of the Black- water ; Caesar’s Camp near Bracknell attains an elevation of 410 feet, Lodge Hill is 377, and Easthampstead Plain, the highest point of the Bagshot Beds, is 423 feet above the sea. The river at Maidenhead is only 84 feet above the sea. Berkshire therefore not only slopes from the west to the east, but there is also a decided slope from the north to the south. It must he borne in mind that the central plateau of the Chalk is by no means a plain, or even an inclined plain ; on the contrary, it is very diversi- fied, and may be roughly divided into two parts ; of these the western, which is on the whole the more elevated of the two, is drained by the Lambourn, its northern side being terminated by the White Horse, and, as has been said already, the country slopes down towards the Kennet. In this part the elevation of Wickham Heath is 477 feet, the river Lambourn near Welford is 329 feet, and at its junction with the . Kennet near Shaw is 254 feet above the sea. The eastern side includes 1 The name of the stream is written Emborne, that of the parish Enborne on the Ordnance Map, b ae XVili FLORA OF BERKSHIRE the high ground of the Chalk, which rises at Lowbury to a height of 585 feet; further south, overlooking the Pang stream, is Oare Hill, which is 397 feet high, and in the vicinity is the earthwork known as Grimsbury Castle, which is 461 feet high. The high ground about Aldworth reaches 579 feet, and Beedon touches 545 feet, while Ash- ampstead is 447 feet, and Cold Ash Common 513 feet above the sea. The watershed of the Pang and the Kennet, near Englefield, is nearly 300 feet above the sea. The foregoing and the following altitudes have been obtained from the six-inch Ordnance Survey Maps :— Aldworth, 503. Appleton Road, 329. Ashampstead, 447. Ashley Hill, 358. Ashridge, 545. Avinton, Turnpike Road, 348. Badbury Hill, 465. Beedon, 545. Bennet’s Wood, 449. Boar’s Hill (Pickett’s Heath), 535. Bowsey Hill, 454. Boxford (Lambourn Stream), 363. Bracknell, 272. Bradfield, 193. Bray (Thames), 73. Buckland, 258. — Turnpike Road, 359. Bucklebury Common, 428. Burghfield Common, 313. Buscot Park, Lake, 271. Caesar’s Camp, 410. Cassington (Thames near), 203. Chapel-row Common, 411. Chieveley, 398. Church Speen, 318. Cold Ash Common, 473. Cole at junction with Thames, 254. Coleshill, 347. Coles’ Pits, 312. Cookham Down, 322. Cranbourn Park, 302. Crazey Hill, 316. Crookham Common, 382. Cuckhamsley Knob, 650. Cumnor Hill, Turnpike Road, 411. East Garston (Lambourn Stream), 370. Easthampstead Plain, 423. East Isley, 600. Elcot Green, 417. Englefield, 275. Faringdon (Market Place), 332. — Wood beneath the Clumps, 448. Finchampstead Ridges, 320. Frilsham Mill, 260, Gibbet Hill, 955. Greenham Common (highest point), 4ol. Grimsbury Castle, 461. Grove Corner, 457. Hadley Barns, near Membury Fort, 714. Hampstead Norris, 311. Hanney Field, 200. Hartshill, 421. Harward Bottom, 474. Hawthorn Hill, 248. High Standing Hill, 280. Hungerford, 328. Inkpen Common, 517. King Standing Hill, 391. Letcombe Castle, 690. Little Shefford (Lambourn Stream), 333- Lodge Hill, 377. Long Moor, 174. Lowbury Hill, 58s. Maidenhead (Thames), 84. Marlstone, 328. Midgham, 228. Mongewell (Thames), 160. Mortimer Common, 318. Newbury (River Kennet), 254. Oare Hill, 397. Oxford (Thames), 175. Padworth Meadows, 180. INTRODUCTION xix Pangbourn (Thames), 144. Sutton Courtney (Thames), 160. Pilworth Farm, 579. Pusey Wood, 290. Thames at junction with the Cole, 254. Reading, 154. Thatcham, 235. — Thames at, 123. Tilehurst, 300. Riever Wood, 738. Ruscombe, 121. Walbury Camp, 950. Wantage (Downs above), 740. Sandhurst, 228. Wash Common, Newbury, 409. Shalbourn Hill, 492. Wayland Smith’s forge, 703. — Village, 437. Welford (Lambourn Stream), 329. Shefford Woodlands, 550. White Horse Hill, 840. Silchester, 334. White Waltham, go. Southridge Green, 490. Wickham Heath, near Newbury, 477. Standford Dingley, 193. | Wigmore Ash Pond, g12. Stanford-in-the-Vale, 225. Wokingham, 237. St. Leonard’s Hill, 294 Wytham Hill, 539. Stock-cross Common, 432. — Woods (Thames under), 198. Stubbing’s Heath, 153. Sulhampstead, 300. Yattendon, 373. In describing the botanical divisions of the county reference will be made to the more extensive and beautiful prospects which can be enjoyed from its hills. It may be well to point out here that among the eminences from which such prospects can be obtained, the following are especially to be noted—Boar’s Hill, Cumnor Hurst, Faringdon Clumps, Wytham Hill, White Horse Hill, Letcombe Castle, Lowbury Hill, Wittenbam Clumps, Cold Ash Common, Snelsmore Common, Gibbet Hill, Walbury Camp, Greenham Common, Finch- ampstead Ridges, Bowsey and Ashley Hills, Park Place, Caesar’s Camp, Snow Hill in Windsor Park, and the view from the Flag Tower of Windsor Castle, from which twelve counties can be seen. WOODS AND FORESTS. The district immediately west of Oxford was doubtless in early times covered with forest ; even now the woods of Wytham are very . extensive and beautiful, situated as they are on hilly ground and reaching very nearly to the top. Appleton Common is a wooded common lying between Oxford and Longworth, and consists principally of Oak with an undergrowth in which Privet is a frequent shrub. The denser portions still contain the rare Daphne Mezereum. The upper common contains Colchicum. In the vicinity is Tubney Wood. The trees are principally Oak, with an undergrowth of Hazel. Euonymus is frequent, and there is a good deal of Maple in the hedges. Pusey Wood is on a light sandy soil; it is overrun with Impatiens parviflora, and produces also Adoxa, Lycopsis, and Echium. In the extreme west is Eaton Wood, near Buscot, which is situated on hilly ground. The centre of the Vale has few woodlands, but the b2 xXx FLORA OF BERKSHIRE hilly ground of Boar's Hill range has several coppices, principally of Oak, although one contains, as its name implies, a good quantity of Birch, and others are planted with Larch. These coppices contain a rich flora, which will be noticed later on. Bagley Wood, which was once common ground for the neighbouring parishes, is now claimed by St. John’s College. The wood is principally Oak, with a considerable amount of planted Larch, and the undergrowth contains a good many Willows and Sallows; Pyrus torminalis used to be found, its plant of chief interest being that pretty western species, Cervicina (Wahlenbergia) hederacea, Radley Wood, which is a little to the south, contains no plant requiring special mention, except Salix Smithiana. From Radley in the north-east, and Coxwell in the north-west, to the Ridgeway in the south, the country is so much under cultivation as to leave no woodland more extensive than small coppices or spinneys, and yet from the number of trees, principally pollarded Elms, in the hedgerows, the country does not appear to be bare when seen from an eminence overlooking it. There is a strip of wood on the east side of the Wittenham Clumps where Picris Echioides is very abundant; on its borders Rosa tomentosa oceurs, and another wood nearer Didcot contains several interesting Brambles as well as Sweet Chestnut and Wych Elms. Unwell Wood is a large and very interesting wood which stretches for a mile over the chalk downs to the south of ‘King Standing Hill,’ and occupies the head of one of the dry chalk valleys. The soil varies considerably, so that the flora is of a very interesting character; the trees consist chiefly of Oak and Beech, but a large number of Cherry, White Beam, Privet, and Hazel are also found. The country between Unwell Wood and Reading contains many smaller woods and coppices, most of which produce an interesting flora, and lend a great charm to the landscape by their variety of contour and the different tints of their vegetation : among these woods are Bennet’s Wood, Hartridge Lye Wood, Beche Park Wood, Beech Wood, Hampstead Park Wood, the large wooded Common of Ashampstead, Hockley Heath Wood, Common Wood, Englefield, and the very beautiful woods of Sulham. In these woods Polygonatum multiflorum, which is absent from the woods of North Berkshire, begins to be common. The Yew is rather frequent and is a native tree, and the Hazel is an especially abundant feature. ELuonymus, Cornus, and Rhamnus catharticus are more frequent on the Chalk where there is not much surface deposit. A very fine specimen of the Elm is to be seen at Ashampstead ; both kinds of Cherry are common there, the Hornbeam is occasionally to be found, while Pyrus torminalis, Daphne Laureola, and D. Mezereum also occur. Hypericum Androsaemum, -H. montanum, Atropa, Hypopitys, Habenaria bifolia, Ruscus aculeatus, Orchis SS |. lh INTRODUCTION xxi miitaris, Helleborus foetidus, H. viridis, Epipactis violacea, and Iris foetidissima are among the rarities. The woods, which are situated on the Tertiaries, contain Vaccinium Myrtillus, which may be said to be aksent from the north of the county. In similar woods occurs Lathyrus montanus, which is also very rare in the woods of northern Berks. There are several important woods on the more central portion of the chalk plateau, one of the largest and most interesting being Ash- ridge Wood, in which three rare plants are found, namely, Ornithogalum pyrenaicum, Colchicum autumnale, and Vicia sylvatica. The former is very abundant over a certainarea. Lathyrus sylvestris and Polygonatum multi- florum, the latter very luxuriant, with many other local plants, are also found. Langley Woods, Catmore Copse, and Welford Woods contain many interesting species. Near Hermitage are the hilly and picturesque woods known as Oare and Fence Woods; these are on the Tertiary beds, and offer a different vegetation from the woods on the Chalk. Here occur Equisetum sylvaticum, Vaccinium Myrtillus, Carex pallescens, Osmunda, Blechnum, Menyanthes, and Gnaphalium sy’vaticum, and in this wood is a considerable quantity of Birch, with some planted Larch and Pines. Still further to the west are Ashdown Woods and the seattered coppices which now remain of the once conterminous woodlands of Lambourn, Garstang, and Shefford. The wooded parts of Snelsmore Common must not be omitted. In some of these woods the Snowdrop, the Daffodil, and Deadly Nightshade have been found. The extensive peat deposits in the Kennet Valley show that it was once a dense woodland tract. South of Hungerford there is a beautiful hanging wood, chiefly composed of Hazel with Pyrus Aria, on the chalk escarpment known as Riever Wood, containing Myosotis sylvatica, the only recorded locality for it in the county, and also Paris quadrifolia, Po'ygonatum multiflorum, and a profuse growth of Lychnis dioica. A neighbouring wood is the home of Carex strigosa, Poa Chaixii, and Ornithogalum pyrenaicum. There are many coppices about the well-wooded park of Hampstead Marshall, in which the Mistletoe, Tris foetidissima, Dryopteris montana, and Lathraea have been found. The wooded portions of Greenham Common have Myrica Gale, and the Alder gullies often contain the Alder buckthorn and the Golden Saxifrage. Further to the east are the extensive and beautiful woods of Aldermaston, Wasing, Mortimer, and Ufton, chiefly composed of plantations ot the Scotch Fir, which was formerly a native of the county, as appears from the remains of the cones in the peat; the present trees have been planted during recent times, although self-sown trees are now springing up over this heathy tract. Oaks are also found in the more clayey parts, and on the peaty margins of streams the Alders luxuriate ; in the more sandy soils are beautiful specimens of Birch, and Hazels too are frequent. The undergrowth in the pine woods XXii FLORA OF BERKSHIRE consists often of Erica Tetralix, E. cinerea, Molinia, and Vaccinium Myrtillus ; but a considerable number of local plants are also found, among which may be mentioned Dryopteris montana, Polystichum angulare, Phegopteris polypodioides, Carex Pseudo-cyperus, Convallaria, Equisetum sylvaticum, Epipactis latifolia, Viola palustris, V. lactea, and Allium ursinum, beside several species of Rubus, &e. _ South-east of Reading, near Wargrave, are the wooded heights of Bowsey and Ashley hills, where the Beech luxuriates, containing Daphne Mezereum, Narcissus Pseudo-narcissus, Helleborus, Veronica montana, Fragaria muricata, &c. The charming plantations about Park Place, with the hilly chalk woods near Culham Court, have a large amount of Hypericum montanum and Clematis. Here, too, are Atropa, Vinca minor, Hypopitys, Ophrys muscifera, &e. The beautiful Beech woods of Cookham Dean, which contain large Cherry trees, have yielded Elymus europaeus, Orchis militaris, Crepis foetida, Hypericum Androsaemum, H. montanum, Neottia, &e. Near Maidenhead is Stubbing’s Heath, which once formed part of ‘Maidenhead Thicket,’ the well-known resort of highwaymen, as Leland says ‘it was infested with robbers for five miles in extent.’ On it are now found a large number of Brambles, Sweet-briar, Buck- thorn, Blackthorn, and fine bushes of Hawthorn, but the soil is not very favourable for heath plants. In the vicinity Carpinus is probably native. In the more immediate neighbourhood of Reading are the plantations of Bearwood, which probably occupy the place of the ‘ Berroc Wood’ of the old maps in the neighbourhood of Oakingham (Woking- ham), a district at one time included in the Forest of Windsor. In these woods a great variety of forms of the genus Rubus occur, and the vegetation under the pianted Pinus and Castanea is of a heathy character. The country between Wokingham and Blackwater on the one side, and Wokingham and Easthampstead on the other, consists of a heathy tract, with here and there plantations of Scotch Fir, and in less abundance of Sweet Chestnuts and Birch. Molinia, Erica Tetralix, and E. cinerea are the chief components of the undergrowth. About Caesar’s Camp there is a good deal of Vaccinium, and a hill near Sandhurst is named after the same plant—Whortleberry Hill. With it occur Dryopteris montana, Blechnum, Osmunda, Epilobium angustifolium, Myrica Gade, Rhamnus Frangu'a, Pyrola minor, Carex canescens, C. Pseudo- cyperus, Viola palustris, Stellaria umbrosa, Narcissus, Capnoides claviculatu, Agrostis setacea, Polygonum dumetorum, &e. By the rivers, especially by the Kennet, there are some extensive plantations of Osier which is grown for basket-making ; in these Salix viminalis, S. purpurea, and S. triandra are the most frequently cultivated. The pollard willows which border the streams are usually Salix alba and S. fragilis, with the hybrid S. viridis. INTRODUCTION XXill The only woodland tract which now remains to be mentioned is the Forest of Windsor, which was made a Royal Forest by William the Conqueror ; it was once of great extent, being 120 miles round, As time went on its area became more circumscribed ; in the reign of King James I, Norden estimated the circumference at 77 miles, and the forest then contained 300 head of deer. In later years it dwindled in size, so that in the map published by Rocque its cireuit is given as 56 miles. In the year 1813 an Act of Parliament was passed for its enclosure. The portion which had been previously enclosed, known as Windsor Great Park, was of small extent compared with the whole range of the forest, being less than 4,000 acres, while the open unenclosed forest amounted to 24,000 acres. The district once occupied by it still shows by its local names, such as Crowthorn, Hackley Bushes, Wickham Bushes, Whortleberry Hill, Hagthorn Hill, that the ground in which they are situated was a forest tract. At the present time, although much diminished in extent, the Royal Forest possesses not only the charm which its historic associations give it, but has in itself great natural beauty: from its heights very extensive views may be had over a rich and beautiful country; its splendid specimens of Oak, Beech, Birch, Scotch Fir, and other forest trees, its noble avenues of Elms, and its fine sheets of orna- mental waters, combine to make it a scene of great interest, while the pleasure of seeing it is enhanced by the sense of freedom to wander without hindrance through its verdant alleys. The King Oak, which is said to have been a favourite tree of William the Conqueror, stands near Cranbourn enclosure. In some rides, near the entrance to the St. Leonard property, are four trees known as the Queens’ trees, which were selected respectively by Queen Anne, Queen Charlotte, Queen Adelaide, and Queen Victoria. Another fine Oak, called the Grandfather of the Forest, can be seen close to the road leading from Forest Gate to High Standing Hill. Herne’s Oak, im- mortalized by Shakespeare, fell in 1863: her Majesty has a cabinet made of the wood. The Elms in the great avenue known as the Long Walk were planted in 1680. METEOROLOGY. RatnFraLu.—From thirty-seven years’ observations made at ‘Oxford Observatory, fromthe year 1851 to 1887 inclusive, the mean yearly rainfall is shown to be 26-391 inches. The driest year was 1870, when only 17-564 inches were registered, and the wettest year 1852, when 40-416 inches were registered. The maximum monthly fall was in October, 1875, and amounted to 7-531 inches; the minimum amount XXIV FLORA OF BERKSHIRE was in September, 1865, when only 0-176 was registered. In the exceptionally dry year of 1893 the total amount of rain registered at Oxford was only 18-596 inches. March of that year had only o-109, and April only 0-060 of an inch. Mean Monthly Fall of 37 yrs. Max. Monthly Min. Monthly observations. Fall. Fall. JANUATY eee 2.364 inches. 5.451 1852 0.272 1855 February ......... TOA...” sy 3.744 1883 0.279 1862 Mgrs lh 525 ik cae Sei oe TiGOON\ 55 5.462 1862 0.413 1854 P75 gl Caoriee ny eter 1.720). 5; 3.926 1882 0410 1855 ERY. coach idececce 21070. a5 4.971 1878 0.430 1871 SUMO cee esse esses 2405 9 7.087 1852 0.658 1870 4 felis eed aaa BiBRO) a5 6.098 1880 0.470 1864 AG OUSE! - 200056005) Bae ead 5.120 1878 0.494 1880 September......... POVIO) ey 5-838 1876 0.176 1865 October’: ......2.:-: 28360) 5 7.531 1875 0.733 1879 November ......... 2: 200))) Ven 7.142 1852 0460 1855 December ......... Tah Ay 5.103 1876 0.418 1853 The general yearly mean amount of cloud, from thirty-eight years’ observations, from 1850 to 1887, at the Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford, is 7-06. The general yearly mean reading of the Barometer for a period of thirty-three years, from 1855 to 1887 (inclusive), is 29-721, varying from 29-792 in 1887 to 29-572 in 1872. Temperature. The mean yearly reading of the Dry-bulb Thermometer from 1855 to 1887— thirty-three years—is 49:04. The highest yearly reading was 51-43 in 1868, the lowest 45-52 in 1879. Mean Monthly Reading of the Max. Monthly Min. Monthly Dry-bulb Thermometer Reading, Reading, JSrom 1855 to 1887. 1855-1887. 1855-1887. aNUALY: =. 6225. 38.58 ae 44.5 1884 Aas 30.3 1881 February ...... 40.19 a 46.2 1869 bse 29.5 1855 I gol Cee onepaen 41.59 See 46.1 1859 she 35-5 1883 pi 1a | A ea 47.05 Bee 52, 1865 ee 42.5 1860 15 a re Ea 52.15 ik 57.4 1868 oo 48. .. (Bes DUM? wee ce aeons 58.60 sae 63.8 1858 ane 55.1 1800 HUAI ).+ asawasbnewe 61.85 eo 66.5 1859 ae 56.8 1879, AGEING hues cicny 60.87 es 64. 1871 nat 57-1 1860 September ...... 56.33 fe 61.7. 1865 — 52.3 1860 October ......... 49.70 Me: 54.4 1861 ee 44.7 1887 November ...... 42.43 aXe 492 1881 ios 37.8 1871 December ...... 39.50 Ss 46.1 1868 ans 32.8 1874, 1878 The mean yearly reading of the Wet-bulb Thermometer for thirty- three years’ observations is 46-22; varying from 43-99 in 1887 to 47-95 in 1857. wee a oS =| = e+ a Mean Monthly Reading for INTRODUCTION Max. Monthly XXV Min. Monthly 33 years. Reading. Reading. JANUAPY .-. -) 156 Mentord Park . . 167 186 190 147 221 .-205 190 201, 169)? 1660 Wellington aes EGge' “cesta ge: 344) EAS) 168-176.) FOP ee Yattendon .. 14g 153 (SENO 144° 206 153° 867) TG5) iby oS Meminey . |. . 169. 179 Sidgee 156, 189 I70 166 103 4/541 uI50 Besgine. . . . 143 106 “TG@@ies;. 167. 153 102 983) E45) yeG Siaelibneian. 9. . ... » 107(?)1qeege 154 «154. 62) /aB7> oa50. /g5 Wookham . +... 149 2 168° 91330, 169 144 146 §166 144 . 136 XXVI FLORA OF BERKSHIRE The above figures apparently show that on the western side of the county there is a heavier rainfall than there is on the eastern side, since the average rainfall at Faringdon from ten years’ readings of a gauge placed 340 feet above the sea is 25.49 inches, while at Wallingford, on the east side of the county, only 21-72 inches were registered. At Denford Park, near Hungerford, in the west of Berk- shire, the yearly mean was 27-76, but at Reading, in the east, it was only 23-26. At Wellington College, on the western side, the yearly mean was 24-89, but at Cookham, on the east, it was only 23-16. Newbury and Yattendon, which are on about the same line of latitude, have a different amount of rainfall. The Yattendon gauge is situated 440 feet above sea level, and the yearly mean is 24-60, while the Newbury one, which is only 260 feet above the sea, has a yearly mean of 26-05. At Wallingford in 1893 only 17-72 inches were registered; the highest yearly amount was registered at Faringdon in 1886, namely 34-26 inches. GHOLOGY OF BERKSHIRE. A brief sketch of the geology of the county is all that space allows. The following works on the local geology are enumerated for the convenience of those wishing to obtain fuller and more precise in- formation :— Geology of Oxford and the Valley of the Thames, by John Phillips, 1871. Sections of the Strata near Oxford, John Phillips, in Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. xvi. (1860) pp. 115-119, 307-311. Gravel near Maidenhead, Prof J. Prestwich in Journ. Geol. Soc. xii. (1886) p. 13t. Dr. Buckland in Trans. Geol. Soc. 2nd ser. ii. Bagshot Beds, W. H. Herries in Geol. Mag. n. s. dec. 2. viii. (1881) 171. Sections of Woolwich and Reading Beds at Reading, Prof. T. Rupert Jones and C. Cooper King. Geol. and Physical Features of Bagshot District (1880), Geol. Ass. Proc. vi. (1881) 429-446. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. xxxi. (1875) p. 45%. Geology of Berkshire in Kelly’s Directory of Berks, Bucks, and Oxfordshire, by W. Jerome Harrison, pp. 4-7, 1883. And the following Memoirs of the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom :— The Geology of parts of Berkshire and Hampshire (Sheet 12). The Geology of parts of Oxfordshire and Berkshire (Sheet 13). The Geology of parts of Middlesex, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, and Surrey (Sheet 7). The Geology of part of the Thames Valley (Sheets 1, 2, and 7), London. The Jurassic Rocks of Britain, vol. v. The county is included in Sheets 7, 8, 12, 13, 34, 45 SW. of the One-Inch Map of the Geological Survey of England and Wales. Another useful Map is the Index Map published by the Geological Survey on the scale of 4 miles to an inch. Berkshire is given in Sheet 11, ¥ 4 : INTRODUCTION XXVii The Geological formations that come to the surface within the county are shown in descending order in the following table :— : Superficial deposits including Clay with Flints. pe eT Ary: { Low-level Alluvium. High-level Alluvium and Gravels. Tertiary ) ( Bagshot Beds. or j EocENE ~ London Clay. Caenozoic Reading Beds, ( Chalk. CrEetacrEous » Upper Greensand. Secondary Gault. or Neocom1an Lower Greensand. Mesozoic Portland Beds. { Kimeridge Clay}. | Corallian Beds. ‘Oxford Clay. ' JURASSIC The general strike of the beds is nearly east and west, and the dip is to the south; so that, in travelling from north to south, we pass continually on to higher and higher beds. The outcrops of the several formations show on the map as a series of approximately parallel strips crossing the county from west to east. The Oxford Clay consists of bluish or grey clay, which weathers to a yellow or brown colour at the surface. It is probably not less than 500 feet thick in Berkshire; in the upper part the bedding is in- distinct, and the clay has a tendency to be lumpy; the lower part is more finely laminated and shaly. Large Septaria and thin beds of earthy limestone occur in it. Selenite and Pyrites are common, and the fossils are often pyritized. The country where the Oxford Clay forms the surface is for the most part low-lying, fiat, or feebly undu- lating, and of unattractive aspect. Its soil is stiff, damp, and cold ; and the land is usually under pasture. It is sparsely populated and almost destitute of villages : one main cause of this is the difficulty of obtaining a supply of water from the formation. In Berkshire the Oxford Clay forms a narrow strip of low-lying land, a mile or two across, bordering the southern bank of the Thames from Lechlade to Botley. It also stretches from Coleshill to Lechlade, and the village of North Hinksey is situated on it; a narrow strip runs round Wytham Hill, and an irregular piece reaches as far south as Iffley. Harrowden Hill near Longworth, situated on this formation, is capped with Coralline Oolite. In its area are included the Common of Thrupp and the wooded Common of Appleton, but there is little variety in the vegetation. Among the plants which are found on the Oxford Clay, but which are by no means confined to it, are Picris Echioides, Senecio erucifolius, 1 IT have followed the spelling adopted by my friend the late Professor A. H. Green. XXVili FLORA OF BERKSHIRE Dipsacus sylvestris, Juncus glaucus, Equisetum maximum, Scirpus sylvaticus, Carex pendula, Paris quadrifolia, Centaurea nigra, Cnicus palustris, and Puli- caria dysenterica. The Corallian Beds, when fully developed, fall into the following divisions :— Upper Calcareous Grit. Coral Rag. Lower Calcareous Grit. The Lower Calcareous Grit consists of sands, frequently incoherent. But portions are liable to be bound together by a calcareous cement, so that we find, intercalated in the lower material, beds and large nodular masses of hard caleareous sandstone. The Coral Rag is mainly limestone. Here and there it includes small Coral reefs, with the corals still in the position in which they grew. Other portions consist of rolled and worn fragments of various calcareous organisms. Bands of Clay also occur. The Upper Calcareous Grit is searcely recognizable in the county. The country occupied by the Corallian Beds forms a plateau rising in a low escarpment on the north above the Oxford Clay, and with a gentle slope to the south. The soil is light and open, sandy or rubbly according as sand or limestone forms the bed rock. The district is much more thickly populated than that of the Oxford Clay and contains many villages. On the houses and walls Sedum dasyphyllum may be found, and is locally abundant and possibly native, but practically restricted to this area. Along the northern and eastern escarpments many small valleys cut through the Corallian Beds down to the Oxford Clay, and these are the homes of many local bog and marsh plants. The Corallian Beds are bounded on the south by the low flat tract of Kimeridge Clay, except about Faringdon, where the Greensand rises from the upper surface of the Coral Rag. The Coralline Oolite occurs as a very narrow strip at Faringdon, but broadens out so as to embrace the whole of Buckland Cover, and stretches as far south as Fyfield and Frilford, where it retreats north- wards by Sandford and Cumnor, and from that place forms only a narrow band above the Oxford Clay. From North Hinksey to Rushmead Copse near Radley the formation exists as a narrow indented band, gradually descending to the south at a dip of about 1° till it reaches the bed of the Thames, where it is overlaid with low-level gravel. A similar narrow band extends above the clay round the headland of Wytham. Near Marcham the formation is fossiliferous and yields fine specimens of Ammonites perarmatus together with Hemepe- dina Marchamiensis. At Wytham the formation rises as an outlier to a height of 538 feet. Extensive quarries were worked in it at Wytham, and there are others at Cumnor, &ce. On the south the Corallian Beds INTRODUCTION XXIiX can be traced from Shrivenham and Faringdon, and thence eastwards in a belt about three miles wide as far as Abingdon. On this formation are the extensive bogs of Cothill and Frilford, and the flora contrasts very favourably with that of the Oxford Clay. Potamogeton coloratus, Carex xanthocarpa, C. Boenningnausiana, Sedum dasy- phyllum, Rosa agrestis, and Cotyledon Umbilicus appear to be confined to this formation. A conspicuous plant is Clematis Vitalba, which is rare or absent from the Clays. Characteristic species are Cnicus eriophorus, Avena pubescens, A. pratensis, Bromus erectus, Brachypodium pinnatum, Astragalus glycyphyllus, Viola hirta, Orchis pyramidalis, Cerastium arvense, Picris Hier- acioides, Poterium Sanguisorba, and Lithospermum officinale. Among the other local plants found on it are Anemone Pulsatilla, Hypopitys, Trifolium arvense, T. scabrum, T striatum, T. medium, Lathyrus Nissolia, L. sylvestris, Genista tinctoria, Rubus thyrsoideus, R. pubescens, Geranium pyrenaicum, G. rotundifolium, Sisymbrium Sophia, Arenaria tenui- Solia, Cnicus pycnocephalus, var., Artemisia Absinthium, Onopcrdon, Carum segetum, Culamintha montana, C. parviflora, Mentha piperita, M. longifotia, Myosotis collina, M. versicolor, Campanula glomerata, Polygonum dumetorum, Festuca Myurus, Ceterach, Asplenium Trichomanes, A. Adiantum-nigrum, Lilium Martagon, and Orchis ustulata. The Kimeridge Clay consists of dark shaly clay, with nodules of earthy limestone often septarian, bands of impure limestone, selenite, and pyrites. It forms a tract of flat unpicturesque country, with a stiff, cold, damp soil. In the west of the county it forms flat, wet fields about Shrivenham, and extends as far as to Longcott: then it is concealed by the Faringdon sponge-gravels of the Lower Greensand, and owing to the unconformity of the representatives of the Cretaceous and Oolitic formations, the Lower Greensand strata rest directly upon the Coral Rag. The Kimeridge Clay reappears on the east side of Coles’ Pits (which were once supposed to be an ancient British village) and then stretches as a band of varying width (1-3 miles), principally on the south side of the river Ock, as far east as Sutton Courtney. It in fact forms the level and rather uninteresting country in the centre of the Vale, the fields uf East and West Hanney, Steventon, and Drayton. At Abingdon and near Marcham it crosses the Ock and extends northwards to Radley, Sunningwell, and Bagley Wood, and forms a zone round the eminences of Boar’s Hill and Cumnor. A similar but narrower belt almost surrounds Faringdon Clump, but on the south-eastern side it thins out and eventually dis- appears. Many large fields, separated from each other by watery ditches, are found to occupy a considerable portion of the formation, which is poor in botanical features. Senecio erucifolius, Picris Echioides. and Dipsacus sylvestris are found abundantly, and Apium nodiflorum, Sium erectum, Epilobium hirsutum, E. parviflorum, and Pulicaria dysenterica are xX FLORA OF BERKSHIRE conspicuous objects in its dyke flora. Lathyrus Nissolia is found on it or at its junction with the Corallian Beds. The woodland district, which is not of large extent, includes however Bagley Wood, where Cervicina (Wahlenbergia) hederacea, Equisetum sylvaticum, Drosera, Convallaria, Narcissus Pseudo-narcissus, Ranunculus parviflorus, Calamintha parviflora, and many forms of Brambles are found. The flora of the Kimeridge Clay is considerably modified by the drift deposits of high-level gravels, which are found on Wytham and Cumnor Hills, in Bagley Wood, and about Abingdon. Among the more interesting plants which have been found on this formation, in addition to those already referred to, may be mentioned Ranunculus trichophyllus, Thalictrum flacum, Roripa sylvestris, R. amphibia, R. palustris, Viola palustris, Parnassia, Saponaria, Stellaria palustris, Sagina nodosa, Geranium pratense, Rubus fissus, and other species of Rubus, Pyrus torminalis, Epilobium angustifolium, E. tetragonum, E, palustre, Chrysosplenium, Galium uliginosum, Valeriana dioica, Onicus pratensis, Campanula Trachelium, Vaccinium Myrtillus, Cynoglossum officinale, Hyoscyamus, Veronica montana, V. scutellata, Pedicularis sylvatica, Melampyrum pratense, Verbena, Lamium Galeobdolon, Calamintha montana, Samolus, Cheno- podium rubrum, C. hybridum, C. Vulvaria, Polygonum minus, P. mite, Neottia Nidus-avis, Orchis morio, O. incarnata, O. latifolia, Habenaria chloroleuca, Iris foetidissima, Paris quadrifolia, Juncus obtusiflorus, J. compressus, Scirpus caricis, S. pauciflorus, S. sylvaticus, S. setaceus, Eleocharis multicaulis, Carex acuta, C. pendula, C. fulva, C. flava, C. distans, C. pilulifera, C. disticha, C. pallescens, C. panicea, C. leporina, C. echinata, C. axillaris, C. panicwata, C. pulicaris, C. dioica, Calamagrostis epigeios, Milium, Melica uniflora, Sieglingia, Catabrosa, Agropyron caninum, Equisetum maximum, E. sylvaticum, E. palustre, Blechnum, Asplenium Ruta-muraria. Ceterach, Dryopteris spinulosa, D. dilatata, D. montana, Botrychium, Ophioglossum, and formerly Nartheciwm ossifragum. A locality of special interest in the Kimeridge Clay area is a detached patch forming the meadows near Marcham. In these meadows a spring rises from the juncture of the Kimeridge Clay with the Coralline Oolite, and its water is loaded with a considerable per- centage of chloride of sodium. The water is sufficiently saline to exert a considerable influence upon the surrounding vegetation. Here may be found such maritime or semi-maritime plants as Scirpus mari- timus, Buda marina, Carex distans, Juncus Gerardi, Oenanthe Lachenalii, Zannichellia pedunculata, Apium graveclens, Vaucheria dichotoma, var. sub- marina. A form of Atriplex delloidea, of Agrostis alba, and of Polygonum aviculare, which resemble the marine forms, also occur. At Chawley Hurst the Kimeridge Clay is extensively excavated for brick-making, and this industry threatens the fir-ceapped Hurst. Brickyards in this formation are also found on the south and west side of Boar’s Hill, where Lathyrus sylvestris occurs in considerable quantity. INTRODUCTION XXxi The Portland Sand exists only as a small outlier, on which the village of Bourton, near Shrivenham, is built. Here a section shows the beds of which the Portland Oolite are composed to be about 50 feet thick, the upper bed being a soft, thinly bedded, chalky oolite, with grains of sand, and the lower a hard bluish limestone with pebbles of Lydian stone and white quartz. The Lower Greensand consists in the main of sands, often coarse and pebbly, usually more or less rusty in colour, and not unfrequently so strongly impregnated with iron oxide as to deserve the name of an iron ore. It is, however, liable to considerable local variations, the most important of which is the so-called ‘gravel’ of Faringdon. Here the formation is almost entirely composed of finely comminuted shells and hard parts of other organisms, in which are embedded fossil sponges, molluscs, brachiopods, and sea urchins in a better state of preservation, Among the characteristic fossils from the Faringdon Gravels, figured in Phillips’ Geology of Oxford, are Manon Faringdonensis, Cidaris Faringdonensis, and Lima Faringdonensis. The outcrop of the Lower Greensand does not stretch, like the out- crops of the other formations, in an unbroken belt across the county. From the river Cole in the west it runs as a narrow strip to Faringdon, and then spreads out into a broad patch. Very little further to the east it is overlapped by the Gault, and it does not show at the surface till the neighbourhood of Culham on the Oxfordshire side of the Thames. Outliers of it occur on Boar’s Hill, where it reaches its loftiest altitude in the county on Pickett’s Heath, which is 535 feet above sea level, and on Cumnor Hurst. The formation also peeps out at Clifton Hampden, and is seen in some bold picturesque cliffs on the Oxfordshire side of the Thames. In the west of the county, Faringdon Clumps and Badbury Hill, both about 500 feet high, are capped with the Lower Greensand ; in the latter place it is more or less fossiliferous ; some wood and a fern leaf have been found in the sandstone which caps the whole. It must also be noticed that, while the various subdivisions of the Jurassic System rest upon one another in the same order, this is no longer the case when we pass to the overlying Neocomian Beds, for in the neighbourhood of Faringdon the Lower Greensand lies sometimes on Corallian Beds. The meaning of this is, that between the Jurassic and Neocomian Periods there intervened a time during which the Jurassic Beds were uplifted, tilted, and denuded, and that the Neocomian Beds were not laid down till these operations had been completed. In geological terminology the two systems are uncon- formable to one another. Similarly the overlap of the Gault on the Lower Greensand shows that the Cretaceous Beds rest unconformably on the Neocomian. XXX FLORA OF BERKSHIRE These detached areas of the Lower Greensand form a light sandy soil, which to the botanist are so many oases, since many local and rare plants are found on them, and the flora exhibits a striking contrast to that of the preceding formation. Some of the species which are found on the Lower Greensand may be enumerated —Papaver hybridum, Sisymbrium thalianum, Teesdalia nudicaulis, Tunica prolifera, Silene anglica, Cerastium semidecandrum, Sagina ciliata, S. apetala, Spergula arvensis, S. sativa, Buda rubra, Hypericum humifusum, H, pulchrum, Geranium lucidum, Erodium cicutarium, Trifolium arvense, T. striatum, Orni- thopus, Vicia lathyroides, Rubus idaeus, var. anomalus, R. sulcatus, R. Cole- manni, R. mercicus, var. bracteatus, R. oigocladus, var. Newbouldii, R. affinis, R. suberectus, R. pyramidalis, Rosa tomentosa, var. pseudo-mollis, Gnaphalium sylvaticum, Anthemis arvensis, Tanacetum, Chrysanthemum segetum, Filago minima, F. germanica, Solidago, Erigeron acre, Serratula, Centaurea Cyanus, Hieracium boreale, H. sciaphilum, H. rigidum, var. scabrescens, H. umbellatum, Jasione montana, Erica cinerea, Calluna, Lycopsis arvensis, Myosotis versicolor, M. collina, Echium, Digitalis, Veronica officinalis, Melampyrum pratense, Stachys arvensis, Polygonum dumetorum, Plantago Coronopus, Scleranthus annuus, Betula, Carex leporina, C. pilulifera, Agrostis canina, Deschampsia Jlexuosa, Aira caryophyllea, A. praecox, Koehleria, Festuca sciuroides, Nardus, Blechnum, and others. The Gault consists of bluish clay, usually caleareous and often micaceous, with some bands of phosphatic nodules. The strip of country along which it comes to the surface is flat with a stiff, heavy soil, and, as is the case with the Oxford and Kimeridge Clays, un- interesting in its botanical features. Where Drift deposits occur upon it, they give a little variety to its surface and flora. The Gault occupies a zone varying from one to three miles in width, which extends across the county from the Wiltshire to the Oxfordshire border. This zone is fairly even on its northern margin, but is very irregular on its southern side. The usual plants which are to be found on argillaceous soils occur in the Gault, but from the sparsity of woodland many sylvan species are absent. Senecio erucifoliusis common. LEpilobium tetragonum, and a hybrid of that species with LZ. parviflorum, have been gathered near Uffington. Euphorbia exigua, var. retusa, occurs in some of the arable fields. Mentha pipertta is found in one of the ponds. The marshy pastures afford Menyanthes, Orchis incarnata, and Ophioglossum. The Brambles are very few in number, and are chiefly Rubus ulmifolius, R. corylifolius, R. dumetorum, R. caesius, and R. leucostachys. The Upper Greensand occupies a belt of country from the Wilt- shire border on the west to the Oxfordshire border on the east. It is five or six miles across on its eastern side, that is from Wittenham to Aston Tirrel; from this width the belt gradually narrows till it almost thins out at Woolstone, INTRODUCTION XXXill The Upper Greensand has at the base a band of hard calcareous free- stone, above which come soft glauconitic sands, The ground occupied by this formation rises in a steep terraced escarpment above the Gault plain, which is most prominent at Kingstone Lisle, Charlton, Milton Hill, Berwick Prior, and Adwell. The upper part of the Upper Greensand is calcareous and contains occasionally phosphatic matter. These constituents render its soil very fertile, and its fertility is further increased by the supply of marly débris, which every shower of rain washes down from the Chalk escarpment and spreads over its surface. The flora is consequently much more varied than that of the Gault. About twenty miles south of the main outcrop of the Upper Greensand a small outlier of it is found at the base of Riever Hill, near Inkpen, where the Chalk hills rise from the synclinal trough on the south side of the Kennet. This outlier, which, from its containing the village of Shalbourn, may be called the Shalbourn outlier, is about three and a half miles long, and at its broadest part rather more than a mile wide, but only a narrow strip on the eastern and northern side is in Berkshire, by far the larger portion being in Wiltshire. It owes its occurrence to a continuance of the anticlinal curve of the Vale of Pewsey, the Chalk having been removed by denudation. Another outlier of the Greensand occurs a little to the east of this, but it is wholly outside our bounds, being in Hampshire, and forms that beautiful portion of country on which Sidmonton is situated. The richer and more fertile country afforded by this formation is plainly visible from the Chalk hills of Walbury Camp and Gibbet Hill.. The area of the Upper Greensand also contains three outliers of the Chalk, namely, the two historic hills known as the Dorchester, or Wittenham Clumps, and Cholsey Hill. Among the more local or interesting plants found on the Upper Greensand may be mentioned—Myosurus minimus, Papaver hybridum, Fumaria densiflora, Cerastium arvense, Spiraea Filipendula, Carum segetum, Caucalis nodosa, and Oenanthe crocata in its most northernly situation in the county. Cnicus eriophorus, Crepis biennts, C. taraxacifolia, Cynoglossum officinale, Hyoscyamus, Vertbascum nigrum, Linaria Elatina, L. spuria, Salvia Verbenaca, Lamium hybridum, Polygonum Bistorta, Ophrys muscifera, Scolo- pendrium, Zannichellia, and Allium vineale are also found. Potamogeton densum is rather frequent in the brooks issuing from the Chalk escarp- ment. Bromus arvensis, B. interruptus, Camelina sativa, and Lepidium Draba also occur. In some instances plants are found which are more closely connected with the Chalk formation, for example, Linaria repens, Iberis amara, Clematis, and Bromus erectus. Hops are cultivated on the Upper Greensand near Didcot, and there are extensive orchards of plums and cther fruit in the same neighbourhood. Cc XXXIV FLORA OF BERKSHIRE The Chalk. Chalk is a soft, white limestone, consisting largely of the minute shells of Foraminifera, and more or less crumbled remains of molluses, echinoderms, and other organisms. The purer varieties resemble very closely the foraminiferous ooze now forming on the bed of the Atlantic ; they were deposited in a sea free from mechanically carried sediment, but shallower than those in which the Globigerina Ooze is now accumulating. The formation admits of the following subdivisions :— 1. Upper Chalk with Flints. 5. Lower Chalk. 2. Chalk Rock. 6. Totternhoe Stone. _ 3. Middle Chalk. 7. Chalk Marl. 4. Melloum Rock. From a general point of view we may say that the lower members contain a considerable portion of clayey matter, but the proportion of this decreases, and the rock becomes more and more a pure limestone as we ascend in the series. The lower members of the Chalk form a line of gently undulating hills rising sharply from the plateau of the Upper Greensand. To the south of this the Upper Chalk stands up in a bold escarpment, which rises to a height of 840 feet at the White Horse Hill, and 959 feet at Walbury Camp!', known also as Coombe Hill and Inkpen Beacon. This long line of escarpment is by far the most striking physical feature in the county. It is indented by numerous narrow winding valleys, most of which are dry; and the softly rounded outlines of the intervening hills are singularly graceful. Viewed from the Vale of the White Horse it presents the appearance of a long alternation of bays and promontories, which give it a striking resemblance to a coast-line ; but there can be no doubt that its out- lines are the product of subaerial denudation and not of marine action. The Chaik, like the last two formations, extends right across the county from west to east. On the west it is at least twelve miles in breadth, that is from Hungerford to Compton Beauchamp. On the east side of the county it reaches from Cholsey to Theale, a distance of ten miles, but in this direction it is obscured by many patches of more recent formations. In addition to this main mass of chalk there is a second area, lying to the south of the Kennet. This area, although apparently distinct, is really conterminous with the chalk of the central plateau, the beds of which in their gentle southern slope (from one to three degrees) dip under the Tertiaries of the Kennet Valley to 1 The height of Walbury Camp is very differently estimated in topo- graphical works. Many authors ascribe to it a height of 1,011 feet, but the lower height here given for it is taken from the more recent Ordnance Survey. The county boundary of Berks and Hants crosses it at its highest point. INTRODUCTION XXXV reappear at a more abrupt angle, and then form the line of picturesque hills of which Walbury is the highest point. These hills extend from the Wiltshire border near Shalbourn to the spot where they leave Berkshire for Hampshire, near East Woodhay. The Chalk is also present in the south-east of the county from Sonning, on the banks of the Thames, to Remenham, Wargrave, and Maidenhead. It must be borne in mind that the hills of Bowsey, Ashley, and Crazey, between Wargrave and Maidenhead, are thickly capped with London Clay. The chalk hill, on which Windsor Castle is built, is distinct from the main mass of Chalk, being probably an inlying boss which owes its present position to its being elevated by some disturbance. The three outliers, which include the Wittenham Clumps, have been mentioned, and there is an inlying patch near Hampstead Marshall. At the junction of the upper, more pervious portions of the Chalk with the Chalk Marl, numerous powerful springs are thrown out, which are largely utilized for the growth of watercress, as at Ashbury. Along this line too the plentiful supply of water has determined the site of numerous villages. Where the Chalk actually comes to the surface we find rolling downs overgrown by short turf, which forms excellent pasturage. But over a large portion of the county coloured as Chalk in geological maps and where Chalk does exist at a moderate depth, the actual surface is over- spread by a stiff red clay full of flints, known as ‘ Clay-with-Flints.’ There can be no doubt as to the origin of this clay. Surface water, percolating through the porous Chalk, dissolves and carries away in solution the carbonate of lime which makes up the bulk of the rock ; the small amount of clayey matter, which Chalk contains, and the Flints are insoluble and are left behind. The process goes on everywhere, but along the steep slopes the resulting product is washed down by rain; it accumulates on the flatter ground. Deposits of sandy clay suitable for brick-making, and hence called ‘Brick earth,’ are found associated with the ‘ Clay-with-Flints. They are probably rearranged sands and clays belonging originally to outliers of the Reading Beds. This ‘ Clay-with-Flints,’ where it is present, will obviously give to the soil and what grows upon it characters very different from those which prevail where the surface is the Chalk itself; the land is much more largely arable, and woods are frequent. The dry valleys in the Chalk country often contain a spurious gravel made up of broken flints, and sometimes a thin bed of clay ' spreads over these troughs. In such situations the silvery-leaved Potentilla Anserina is often very abundant. By walking across the belt of Chalk from Wantage to Newbury, or Uffington to Hungerford, or from LIlsley to Theale, the peculiar C2 XXXVI FLORA OF BERKSHIRE characters of the Chalk formation can be well seen. The northern portion is composed of grassy downs with softly curving outlines, or of the more undulating tracts which have been brought under cultiva- tion. Further south the Chalk becomes covered with ‘ Clay-with- Flints,’ ‘ Brick earth,’ or Eocene beds, and is often a woodland tract, such as Ashridge, Lambourn Woodlands, or Ashampstead. Numerous dry valleys radiate from the Ridgeway. Some, however, have springs of a temporary character. Whiting is largely made from the Chalk at Kintbury by grinding the Chalk in water; the material, after elutriation, is allowed to settle in tanks, and is then framed in moulds and dried. As much as 2,000 tons have been made in a single year. Many of the village churches are built of flints from the Upper Chalk, among others the beautiful church of Shottesbrooke, St. Lawrence at Reading, and Little Shefford. The Chalk is used as a building material for the inside of churches, as at Tilehurst and Sonning, and for the outside of Sparsholt Church. Sections of the Upper Chalk, with flints in the bedding planes, are to be well seen in the railway cutting at Pangbourn, at Cookham Dene, and in other places. At Englefield great chalk-pit the Chalk appears to be reconstructed. The flora of the Chalk area offers a great contrast to that of the other geological formations. The grass downs afford a pleasing vegeta- tion in the number of flowering plants which grow among the short turf. Among the specially interesting ones must be mentioned. Anemone Pulsatilla, Hippocrepis comosa, Polygala calcarea, P. vulgaris, Gentiana germanica, G. Amarella, Carlina, Cerastium arvense, Asperula cynanchica, Thesium, Senecio campestris, Orchis ustulata. O. pyramidalis, Ophrys apifera, Habenaria viridis, H. conopsea, Herminium Monorchis, Gyrostachis autumnalis, Campanula glomerata, Bromus erectus, Brachypodium pinnatum, Koeleriu cristata, Avena pubescens, A. pratensis, Blackstonia, Arabis hirsuta, Spiraea Filipendula, Verbascum nigrum, Saxifraga granulata, Sedum acre, Astragalus glycyphyllus, Anthyllis, Scabiosa Columbaria. The wooded parts afford Ornithogalum pyrenaicum, Polygonatum multiflorum, Cephalanthera pallens, Ophrys muscifera, Habenaria bifolia, H. chloroleuca, Epipactis media, EF. violacea, Neottia Nidus-avis, Orchis militaris, O. Simia (probably now ex- tinct), Helleborus foetidus, H. viridis, Milium effusum, Elymus europaeus, Myosotis sylvatica, Atropa Belladonna, Ruscus, Lactuca muralis, Veronica montana, Allium ursinum, Pyrus Aria, P. torminalis, Colchicum, Hypopitys, Hypericum montanum, H. Androsaemum, Serratula, Lathyrus sylvestris, Vicia sylvatica, Agrimonia odorata, Ilex, Nepeta Cataria, Daphne Laureola, D. Meze- reum, Iris foetidissima, and Juncoides Forsteri. The cultivated fields have Iberis amara, Fumaria parviflora, F. Vaillantii, F. densiflora, Brassica alba (which here replaces B. Sinapis), Onobrychis, Lathyrus Aphaca, Adonis, INTRODUCTION XXxXvii Poterium polygamum, Valerianella deniata, V. rimosa, Cichorium, Crepis biennis, CG. taraxacifolia, Lithospermum arvense, Linaria repens, Orobanche Trifolium- pratense, Bromus interruptus, Allium vinede, Anthemis arvensis, and Legouzia Even this list does not exhaust the flora of the Chalk. On it is the only locality in the county for Galium sylvestre and for Astragalus danicus. Rosa rubiginosa, R. micrantha, and R. tomentosa are found, but the Brambles are but scantily represented. Viola hirta is a conspicuous feature in the spring, as are the wood-plants Asperula odorata and Lamium Galeobdolon. Juniperus, Clematis Vitalba, and Taxus baccata are also characteristic plants. Reading Beds. The lowest Tertiary strata found in Berkshire belong to the subdivision known as the Woolwich and Reading Beds. The double name was adopted because the character of the deposits of this date in the eastern part of the London Basin is widely different from that which prevails in the west. Our Berkshire representatives conform to what is known as the Reading type. They consist very largely of stiff clay mottled with a great variety of colours, but they also include beds of sharp sand, also variously coloured, and loams. They rest unconformably on the Chalk, and frequently occupy potholes which have been excavated by percolating water in that rock. These beds once formed an unbroken sheet extending over the whole of the Chalk, and even beyond its present limits, but they have been largely swept away by denudation, and, beyond their main mass, a very large number of outliers testify that they had formerly a much wider range. The Reading Beds are found scattered over a large area of Southern Berkshire, the most northern point reached by them being at Let- combe Bowers, where there is a small outlier. Doubtless at one time the whole of the Chalk area was covered by them, but subsequent denudation has removed them from the greater portion of the northern Chalk. The main mass of the Eocene occupies a trough or synclinal of the Kennet forming a triangular area. This can be traced from the Wiltshire border of the county, near the Shalbourn outlier of Greensand, along the south side of the Kennet as far as Crookham. On the north side of the river they extend as far as Thatcham and Theale, but from Thatcham eastwards the drift gravels quite obscure them. At Shaw, near Newbury, the Reading and Woolwich Beds are 52 feet thick. There are a large number of outliers; over forty are given on the Ordnance Map (No. 13) alone. North of the Kennet, on the western side of the county, is the important outlier of Wickham Heath, which forms a piece of high ground nearly a mile in breadth, and about six miles in length. It is thickly covered with flint gravel ; the small patch east of Elcot is a projecting part of this outlier. Two small outliers at Stanham Green are chiefly yellow sand. Another XXXVili FLORA OF BERKSHIRE outlier is to be seen between Woolley Park and Farnborough, further to the south-east is the Beedon outlier, and between that and the main portion of the beds are two or three others. The main mass of the Reading Beds is met with near Curridge Common, where the ‘bottom bed’ is exposed. From Curridge Common the beds run north-east to Hampstead Park, and then follow the line of the Frilsham and Bradfield Valley along its western and southern side as far as Englefield. Thence the boundary becomes much hidden by a thick bed of gravel. Other important outliers north of the Kennet which should be mentioned are those of Snelsmore, Frilsham, Tile- hurst, Yattendon, and Basildon. South of the Kennet, between Newbury and Enborne, they are to a great extent concealed from view by a widespread and deep accumulation of drift gravels. A large and well-marked outlier is found south of Hungerford, which is capped by London Clay at Bagshot, near Shalbourn; here the underlying Cretaceous beds have a sharp dip to the north. Southwards of Reading the outcrop of the Reading Beds continues about half a mile wide through Sonning and the Walthams, towards or as far as Shoppen- hanger’s Farm and Philbert Lodge near Bray. A small belt is found on the south side of the Chalk inlier, on which Windsor Castle is built. At Twyford they are much obscured by drift gravels. About Reading they are largely worked at Coley Hill and Katesgrove, &c. The plastic clays are made into drain-pipes and tiles, and the sands are mixed with the clay to make bricks. Between Twyford and-Maidenhead there are several important outliers on the Chalk, as near Wargrave and Cookham Dene. The Wargrave outlier consists of a widespreading mass of the Reading Beds, with two thick outliers of London Clay, which form the hills of Ashley and Bowsey: these hills are capped with pebble gravel, while flints are found on Cookham Dene. At Crazey Hill the Reading Beds consist of light-coloured sands, plastic clay, and the ‘bottom bed’ composed for the most part of laminated clay. The varied soils formed by these Reading Beds necessarily give rise to a varied vegetation, which includes several local species ; but the beds are much broken up, and are not continuous, but scattered over a considerable portion of the central and southern parts of Berkshire, so that it would be by no means easy, even if desirable, to keep their flora apart from that of the other members of the Tertiary beds. The extensive deposits of drift gravels with which they are covered also increase the difficulties of keeping the flora of the ‘Reading Beds’ distinct. One must content oneself by saying that where the ‘ plastic clay’ is the predominating surface, there plants which prefer an argillaceous soil will be found, so that Carex vesicaria appears in ponds on the clay of ‘the bottom bed,’ near Marlstone : in Oare Woods Carex INTRODUCTION XXXIiX pallescens is to be found. South of Newbury, in ponds, Mentha Pulegium oceurs along with Ranunculus hederaceus ; at the base of the Wargrave outlier is a marshy spet which gives a home for Carex paniculata, &e. On the sandy portions of the beds sand-loving plants are necessarily to be found ; in sueh situations Filago apiculata, Erigeron acre, Trifolium arvense, T. striatum, Hieracium boreale, H. sciaphilum, &e. occur. Perhaps, however, the more interesting flora is to be found on the ‘ drift gravels’ covering the Reading Beds, on which grow many rare and interesting plants. Among such species are Potentilla argentea, Trifolium scabrum, T. striatum, T..subterraneum, T. arvense, Dianthus Armeria, Jasione, Anthemis nobilis, Erythraea pulchella, &e. The London Clay is a thick mass of clay, of a bluish or greyish colour, but weathering brown on the surface, very uniform in its character throughout its whole thiekness (which in some places is as much as 4oo feet) and over its whole range. It contains bands of septarian nodules of clayey limestone. At its base is a peculiar bed known as the ‘Basement Bed,’ which consists of rounded flint pebbles embedded in green and yellow sand, locally cemented by carbonate of limestone into hard tabular slabs, The outcrop of the London Clay in Berkshire is a broad one. The range of hills from Cold Ash Common to Mare’s Ridges consists greatly of this formation, and there are two brickyards in it in the district west of Englefield. Near Frilsham is another outlier, in which the Basement Bed is exposed to the west of Frilsham House. On the large outlier at Tilehurst the deposit is 100 feet thick. Near Newbury, at the Shaw brickyards, a good section is exposed. North of the Kennet there are several outliers of London Clay, among them a small piece resting on the Wickham outlier of the Reading Beds ; others occur on the same beds at Snelsmore, Oare, Yattendon, and on a large area of Bucklebury Common, where the clay is much obscured by drift gravels. South of the Kennet the London Clay is more continuous, especially along the southern slope of the Kennet valley from Crookham nearly to Reading. The large and interesting area about Burghfield, Mortimer, Shinfield, Swallow- field, &c., and the country immediately bordering the Emborne stream, is of the same formation, but a great proportion of its surface on the south of the Kennet is concealed either by the over-lying Lower Bagshot Beds, or by drift gravel which is deeply spread over its surface in many places. The London Clay occupies a wide area between Reading and Windsor. The country is often flat, but the well-marked range of hills on the south near Binfield, Winkfield, Warfield, and Snow Hill in Windsor Great Park, belong to the same formation. On the Chalk between Wargrave and Maidenhead are some interesting outliers of the Tertiary group ; these have their base xl FLORA OF BERKSHIRE composed of the Reading Beds, but on this rests a thick deposit of London Clay. This latter forms Bowsey, Ashley, and Crazey Hills, where the London Clay attains its greatest altitude in the county, namely 454 feet on Bowsey Hill. These hills form striking objects which can be seen for many miles off, and are rendered more con- spicuous and beautiful from their being covered with wood up to the top. Both Bowsey and Ashley Hill are capped with pebble gravel. The vegetation of the London Clay is rendered more varied than it otherwise would be by the drift deposits of gravel, and by the peaty growth with which it is in places overlaid. Its situation in many cases at the base of the Lower Bagshot Sands again helps to increase the variety of species. Equisetum sylvaticum, Carex pallescens, C. elongata, C. elata, Osmunda, Pulicaria vulgaris, Scutellaria minor, Drosera longifolia, D. rotundifolia, Narthecium, Scirpus caespitosus, Bidens cernua, Polygonum minus, P. Bistorta, Rosa systyla, Viola lactea, Millegrana, Centunculus, Sieglingia, Polygonatum multiflorum, Scirpus fluitans, Epilobium roseum, Typha angustifolia, Oenanthe crocata, Oe. Phellandriwm, Orchis latifolia, Hottonia, Carex pulicaris, C. flava, C. echinata, C. paniculata, C. vesicaria, C. Psewdo- cyperus, Mentha Pulegium, Alopecurus fulvus, Juncus compressus, Ranunculus sceleratus, Daphne Mezereum, and Potamogeton fluitans, have been found on it, but the occurrence of many of these species appears to be independent of geologieal causes. Bagshot Beds. In its upper part the London Clay grows sandy and passes up into a very variable group to which this name has been given. It consists of alternations of sands, greensands, pebble beds, and clays, and is subject to many local variations in composition as it is traced from place to place. This formation tends to form sandy, barren, and heather-clad hills. Its junction with the London Clay is marked by springs, the water of which has percolated through the porous Bagshots till it is thrown out by the impervious*clay on which they rest. The Bagshot Sands form the high grounds of Cold Ash Common, Hartshill, and Bucklebury Common, which are thickly covered with drift gravels. South of the Kennet the Bagshot Beds extend from Inkpen Common, by Pebble Hill and Newbury Wash to Greenham and Crookham Commons, and the commons of Brimpton, Tadley, Silchester, and Burghfield. Here a gap ensues, the beds having been removed by denudation in the valley of the Loddon; they reappear, however, near Risely Common, and the main mass rises up to form the beautiful Finchampstead Ridges, and covers a considerable tract of the country which extends from Wokingham and Sandhurst to Ascot Racecourse, Sunninghill, Blacknest, and the border of Virginia Water. The more clayey beds in the neighbourhood of Wellington College, Broadmoor Bottom, and the boggy part between Easthamp- INTRODUCTION ‘xii stead Plain and Sunningdale Station are Bracklesham Beds. The elevated ground of Caesar’s Camp, Wickham Bushes, Easthampstead Plain, Tower Hill, &c., belong to the Upper Bagshot Sands and are often covered with pebble drift. In the Windsor district the Lower Bagshot Beds occur about Cranbourn Lodge ; in Cranbourn Wood the stream has cut through them to the London Clay. The Bagshot Beds are also seen at Park Place, Cumberland Lodge, Cooper’s Hill, &e. The outlier at Farley Hill has the junction with the London Clay shown by a series of springs. A very interesting flora occurs on the great tract of heathlands, pinewoods, numerous and rather extensive bogs, and open commons which is formed of the Bagshot Beds. The dry gravelly commons produce Cerastium quaternellum, Erica cinerea, Calluna, Stellaria graminea. Cerastium arvense, Hypericum pulchrum, H. humifusum, Hieracium borcale, H. umbellatum, H. sciaphilum, H. rigidum, (var.) Erythraea Centaurium, Hypochoeris glabra, Teesdalia nudicaulis, Filago minima, Gnaphalium sylvaticum, Anthemis nobilis, Myosotis cellina and M. versicolor, Malva moschata, Aira caryophyllea, A. praecox, Cytisus scoparius, Genista anglica, Trifolium arvense, T. striatum, T. filiforme, Viola canina, Carex binervis, C. pilulifera, C. praecox, C. leporina, Juncoides multiflora, Molinia, Potentilla procumbens, P. argentea, Rosa rubiginosa, R. micrantha, a large number of Rubi, Trigonella, Ulex (nanus) minor, Cuscuta Epithymum, Teucrium Scorodonia, Rumex Acetosella, Plantago Coronopus, Galium hercynicum, Trifolium filiforme, Centunculus, Millegrana, Agrostis setacea, Genista tinctoria, Lepidium heterophyllum, var. canescens, Viola lactea, Nardus stricta, Agrostis canina, Inula Conyza, Epilobiwm lanceolatum, Jasione, and Filago apiculata. In the more wooded country will be found Sedum Telephium, Vaccinium, Pyrola minor, Capnoides claviculata, Epipactis latifolia, Polygonatum multiflorum, Lathyrus montanus, Melampyrum pratense, Dryopteris dilatata, D. spinulosa, D. montana, Polystichum angulare, P. aculeatum, Blechnum, Athyrium Filix- foemina, Phegopteris polypodioides, Stellaria umbrosa, Polygonum dumetorum, Campanula Rapunculus, &e. The bogs and ponds which are scattered over the area yield Viola palustris, Ranunculus Lenormandi, Stellaria uliginosa, Montia, Hypericum elodes, Rhamnus Frangula, Peplis, Chrysosplenium oppositifolium, Apium mun- datum, Hydrocotyle, Potentilla palustris, Drosera longifolia, D. rotundifolia, Bidens cernua, Menyanthes, Myosotis caespitosa, M. repens, Myrica Gale, Molinia, Carex flava, C. echinata, C. canescens, C. pulicaris, C. dioica, C. rostrata, C. Pseudo-cyperus, Potamogeton alpinus, P. polygonifolius, Scutellaria minor, Cnicus pratensis, Valeriana dioica, Gentiana Pneunomanthe, Narthecium, Epilobium palustre, Rynchospora, Schoenus, Scirpus caespitosa, S. pauciflorus, S. fluitans, Eriophorum angustifolium, Ilecebrum verticillatum, Pilularia, Oenanthe crocata, Erica Tetralix, Lycopodium inundatum, Nitella translucens, N. opaca, Chara fragilis, Juncus bulbosus (supinus), J. sguarrosus, Veronica scutellata, &c. xlil FLORA OF BERKSHIRE In the cultivated fields have been found Silene anglica, Filago apiculata, Myosurus, Arnoseris, Anchusa officinalis, Mercurialis annua, Jasione, Apera Spica-venti, &e. The enumeration of the stratified rocks of Berkshire may be con- sidered to come to an end with the Bagshot Sands. Mr. Harrison points out that if a boring were made near Easthampstead Plain it would pass through many of the formations here described, till at a depth of about 2,000 feet it would touch the first which was men- tioned, namely the Oxford Clay. 1t will be well to allude in passing to the Sarsen Stones, or as they are sometimes called the Grey Wethers, from a fancied resemblance when seen from a distance to a flock of sheep. They are blocks of sandstone or conglomerate, and are found most frequently on the Chalk ; they are now generally considered to be fragments of some of the Tertiary strata which once covered the district where they occur. These harder portions remain while the softer part has been entirely washed away. The blocks are often of considerable size ; in some cases, as at Avebury in Wiltshire, they are as much as twelve to fifteen feet across and about four feet thick. They are frequently found in villages, where they may be sometimes seen placed against the corners of houses to protect the walls from passing vehicles; such a stone occurs at Thatcham. The ‘Nymph’ or ‘Imp’ stone near Silchester is a Sarsen stone; its name may be derived from the letters ‘imp,’ meaning Imperator, or from a figure of a nymph which may have been carved on it. It is a milestone of great antiquity on the Spinae road near Silchester. Another celebrated Sarsen stone is the ‘Blowing Stone’ near Kingstone Lisle, not far from the White Horse. It is about three feet high, pierced with several natural holes, one of which, beginning at the top and issuing at one side, can by a practised blower be made to produce an alarm note, sufficiently loud to be heard under favourable conditions as far as Faringdon, six miles away. A considerabie number are found in the neighbourhood of Ashdown, near the Wiltshire border. Wayland Smith’s Cave, which is doubtless a cromlech with an outer circle, is also composed of Sarsen stones, from which the earth that covered it was removed so long back as A.D. 955, since in a charter of Edred it is referred to as. Welland’s Smithy. Deposits of Post-Tertiary Age. The rock-groups, which have been so far described, form so to speak the solid framework of the land ; whichever of them is at or nearest to the surface in any district may be spoken of as the ‘ bed-rock’ of that district. Over a large part of the county they are covered by only a thin layer of soil, which is itself made up mainly of the débris of the rock beneath. In such a case it is the character of this rock that determines the nature of the INTRODUCTION xiii surface soil, and influences the vegetation. Moreover, these groups lie one above another in an order which is always the same. But in other cases there lie above the bed-rock accumulations of sand, gravel, or clay, which may be distinguished as Superficial Deposits. These rest sometimes on one and sometimes on others of the group of stratified rocks, from the oldest up to the youngest, and are therefore later than the newest of the stratified formations. Though nowhere reaching any great thickness, they are often thick enough to be the determining factors in fixing the character of the soil and of the plants that grow on it. This fact has been mentioned in passing several times, and in the case of the Chalk the Superficial Deposits have been described at some length. It is time now to say a word about the other members of the group. A large number of these may, from the point of view of the botanist, be conveniently classed together, because they are mainly gravelly in character. All are certainly younger than the Bagshot Beds, and it is likely that all are Post-tertiary, but it is not possible to fix more closely the date of many of them. In some cases the pebbles or angular fragments which they contain are mainly of flint; in other cases they include rocks that have come from a distance, such as Quartzite, White Quartz, and Igneous Rocks. Frequently they occur as cappings to hill-tops, but they are not confined to such situations. In the neighbourhood of Oxford these deposits make no marked feature in the contour of the country, but they are found on much of the higher ground. Wytham Hill, the north side of Cumnor Hurst, Bagley Wood, and other places, have a pebble drift, largely composed of Quartzite similar to that which forms the conglomerate beds of the New Red Sandstone. , Aucuparia occurs in a more or less native condition in all the bordering counties. Lo (wv) ~ CRATAEGUS 2c9 P. Malus, Linn. Sp. Pl. 479 (1753). Crab-tree, Wilding. Malus sylvestris, Gerard, 1276. Top. Bot. 158. Syme, E. B. iii. 255, t. 489. Nyman, 240. FI. Oxf. 112. Native. Septal. Woods, hedges, thickets. Common and generally distributed. Small tree. April-June. First record. P. malus. Wood useful, Dr. Mavor’s Agr. Berks, 1800. With Erinaeum pyrinum, Pers., in Bagley Wood, Baat. Stirp. Crypt. Ox. n. 48, 1825. Ashridge Wood, Mr. W. Hewett in Herb. Brit. Mus. 18309. Var. mitis, Wallr. Sched. Crit. 215 (1822). Syme, E. B. iii. 256, t. 490, is found in all the districts, but not usually so frequent as the var. acerba. The Rev. W. M. Rogers reports it as being frequent about Beedon. I have seen it at Wytham, Cumnor, Tubney, Appleton, Buscot, Coleshill, Bagley, Wittenham, Lockinge, Letcombe, Bradfield, Sulham, Aldworth, Hungerford, Lambourn, Aldermaston, Windsor Park, Wargrave, Bracknell, Ascot, Winkfield, Early, Cookham, Maidenhead, Ruscombe, &e. There is a most picturesque avenue of what is probably this form at Welford. Var. ACERBA (DC., Prod. ii. 635, as a species), Malus acerba, Mérat, Fil. Par. i. 187 =var. acida, Wallr. teste Syme, is the commoner plant. I have seen it in many localities in all the districts. Pyrus Malus occurs in all the bordering counties. **P. communis, Linn. Sp. Pl. 479 (1753). Wild Pear. P. sylvestris, Gerard, 1271. Comp. Cyb. Br. 167. Top. Bot. 158. Syme, E. B. ili, 251, t. 488. Nyman, 240. Fl. Oxf. 113. Denizen. Septal. Hedges, &e. Local and rare. Tree. April-May. First recorded by Mr. J. Lousley in Russell’s Cat. 1839. 2. Ock. Denchworth, a casual, Wait. In the hedgerows of Upton Gardens, Lousley in Russell’s Catalogue. 3. Pang. About Aldworth and Hampstead Norris. In Beech Wood, Lousley, 1.c. Near Cold Ash Common, one tree in a field. 5. Loddon. One large tree, with rugged bark and somewhat thorny branches, in Park Place, between the Ivy Lodge and Boat House, Stanton. One tree near Old Windsor Lock, Bolton King. Near Holyport. It is found more or less naturalized in all the bordering counties. **P. germanica, Hook. fil. Stud. Fl. 127 (1870). The Wild Medlar. Mespilus germanica, Linn. Sp. Pl. 478. WM. sativa, Ger. Em. 1453. Cyb. Br. i. 364. Syme; E. B. iii. 235, t. 478. Nyman, 243. FI. Oxf. 114. Alien. Hedges. Veryrare. Smalltree. May-June. First record. Sometimes in hedgerows, but not common. In a hedge by Purley. Mostly planted in orchards. In Mr. Lousley’s Orchard, Hamp- stead Norris. Mr. J. Lousley in Russell’s Cat. 1839. The Medlar is recorded for the counties of Oxfordshire, Bucks, and Surrey. CRATAEGUS, Linn. Gen. n. 547. C. Oxyacantha, Linn. Sp. Pl. 477 (1753). Hawthorn, Whitethorn, May. Oxyacanthus, Ger. Em. 1327. Baxter, t. 118. Top. Bot. 157. Syme, E. B. iii. 236, t. 479. Nyman, 243. Fl. Oxf. 114. Pp 210 ROSACEAE Native. Septal, &e. Hedges, woods, thickets, parks, &«. Abundant and generally distributed. A small round-headed tree or hedge- row bush. April—June. First record. C. Oxyacantha. 'The most common and the best fence, Dr. Mavor’s Agr. Berks, 1809. ‘Lady East says she has gathered to-day the May in flower near Purley, May 31, 1818.’ Corresp. of Sir James E. Smith. Var. OXYACANTHOIDES (Thuill. Fl. Par. ed. 2, 245, as a species), Syme, l.e., t. 479. This form occurs plentifully in all the districts; it has usually from two to three styles, the fruit with two or three stones, the peduncles and calyx normally glabrous, and the leaves less divided. It has been seen at Wytham, Boar’s Hill, Tubney, Faringdon, Lockinge, Wittenham, Bagley, Moulsford, Yattendon, Ashampstead, Bradfield, Newbury, Hungerford, Sulhampstead, Arborfield, Ruscomb, Waltham, Bray, Stubbing’s Heath, Windsor, &e. : Var. monoayna (Jacq. Fl. Austr. iii. 50, t. 292, 1775, aS a species’, Syme, l.c., t. 480, has only one style and a one-stoned fruit, while the peduncles and calyx tube are usually downy. This has been noticed at Wytham, Besilsleigh, Tubney, Bagley, Radley, Kennington, West Ilsley, Welford, Ashampstead, Pangbourn, Tilehurst, Hungerford, Calcot Park, Inkpen, Finchampstead, Swallowfield, Wargrave, Stub- bing’s Heath, Windsor, Cranbourn Park, Easthampstead, &e. Var. LActnraTA (Wallr, Sched. Crit. sub Mespilus), not C. laciniata, Stev. in Bess. Enum. Pl. Volh. p. 38, appears to be made up of cut- leaved forms of the preceding varieties, but chiefly from monogyna forms. It has been noticed at Swallowfield by Mr. Tufnail, at Cumnor, Wytham, Steventon, Hungerford, Farley Hill, Maidenhead, &e. The /f. rosea, so often cultivated as the crimson thorn, occurred once as a sport at Uffington, where a bush of var. C. monogyna had a branch with rose-coloured flowers. Mr. J. C. Melvill noticed a spineless form at Hurst in 1877. By a process of sorting we can arrange our thorns into groups, one characterized by a single style (monogyna), the other with two or more styles (oxyacanthoides), but this by no means scientifically meets the difficulty we have in describing the forms met with, for we find that the one-styled form may have the calyx tube either glabrous or hairy, and the leaves more or less cut, and the same statement holds true of the two-styled plant. Mr. H. Baker, assistant in the Oxford Herbarium, collected a considerable series from the neighbourhood of Oxford, which showed the great variability of the Hawthorn, but whether this is in consequence of the two extreme forms hybridizing I am not prepared to say. It must be borne in mind that fertile hybrids occur in this order. These forms differed not only in the manner alluded to, but also in leaf texture. The SAXIFRAGA 2iI difference in the size, shape, and colour of the haws in our hedgerows must have been noticed by botanists. Var. KYRTOSTYLA (Fingerh. ex Schlecht. in Linnaea, iv. (1829) 372, as a species), another variety is included in our British lists, differentiated by the hairy peduncles and reflexed styles, which I have noticed in Hampstead Marshall Park and may not be un- frequent, but special attention has not been given to this form. Writing of the Boar’s Hill range, Matthew Arnold, in Thyrsis, says:— ‘But many a dingle on the loved hill-side, With thorns once studded, old, white-blossomed trees.’ Very handsome thorns are to be found in Windsor Park, Wytham Park, Ashampstead Common, Hampstead Marshall Park, &e. East Lsley stands on the site of the famous Nachededorne, which derives its name from a remarkable thorn-tree crowning the summit of a neighbouring hill. In 871, says Asser, the Danes were defeated by Alfred on the hill where it stood, and round which they had carelessly assembled. It may be worth noting that in the dry spring of 1896, the Haw- thorn, which in the valley of the Kennet was nearly over flower on May 31, was not in full flower (that is, a good proportion of unopened flowers were present) on the bushes which grow on Gibbet Hill at an elevation of about goo feet. C. Oxyacantha occurs in all the bordering counties. Obs. In Withering’s Bot. Arr. of British Plants, ed. 1, 292 (1776), the Glaston- bury Thorn is said to grow about Reading in Berkshire ; the record is repeated by Stokes in ed. 2, ii. 512 (1787) of the same work. This variety, as is well known, is interesting from the fact that a few blossoms are put forth about Christmas time. SAXIFRAGACEAE, DC., Fl. Fr. iv. 358 (1805). SAXIFRAGA, Linn. Gen. n. 494 (Tournefort, Inst. t. 129). S. tridactylites, Linn. Sp. Pl. 404 (1753). Rue-leaved Saxifrage. Top. Bot. 181. Syme, E. B. iv. 74, t. 552. Nyman, 274. Fl. Oxf. 129. Native. Glareal. On old walls, and dry sandy ground. Widely distributed and locally common. Preferring sunny exposures. A. March-—June. First record. S. tridactylites, Dr. Noehden, Mavor’s Agr. Berks, 1809. 1. Isis. Cumnor. Wytham. Longworth. Faringdon. Coleshill. Buscot. Appleton. 2. Ock. Denchworth, Wait. Hinksey, Whitwell. Blewbury Hill, and on thatched houses in that vicinity, Lousley. Marcham, Walker. South Hinksey, Kennington, Tubney, Fl. Oxf. Cothill. Abingdon. Frilford. Appleford. Didcot. Lockinge. Letcombe. Pusey. Sutton Courtney. Sparsholt. Goosey. Shellingford. Hanney. In the camp of Uffington Castle about 840 feet. P 2 212 SAXIFRAGACEAE 3. Pang. Streatley, Pamplin. Pangbourn. Tidmarsh. Hampstead Norris. Compton. Bucklebury. Aldworth, &e. 4. Kennet. Greenham Mill, Weaver. Wasing. Brimpton. Welford. Kintbury. Shefford. Chilton Foliat. Lambourn. Padworth. Southeote, &e. 5. Loddon. Wall by the village of Hurley, Mill. Holme Park, Sonning, Tufnail. Windsor, Everett. Wellington College List. Cookham. Ruscombe. Wargrave. Hurst. Bracknell. Woking- ham. Bray. Sonning. Arborfield. Barkham. Finchampstead. A small form with entire leaves, growing in very dry places, is probably S. minuta, Pollin. Pl. Nov. i. 2, teste Koch, Syn. 276=the var. pusilla, Brébisson, Flore de la Normandie, 124. Saxifraga tridactylites occurs in all the bordering counties. S$. granulata, Linn. Sp. Pl. 403 (1753). Meadow Saxifrage. Saxifraga alba, Ger. Em. 841 (1633). Top. Bot. 180. Syme, E. B. iv. 77, t. 555. Nyman, 272. Fl. Oxf. 128. Native. Pascual. Meadows, chalk downs, railway-banks, &e. Locally common, especially on gravelly soil, and is a great ornament to some of our gravelly meadows and pastures. The flowers are fragrant. P. April-June. First record. White Saxifrage, Dr. Noehden in Mavor’s Agr. Berks, 1800. 1. Isis. Wytham, Boswell in Fl. Oxf. Downs near Wayland’s Smithy. 2. Ock. Marcham, Walker. Uffington Castle, Trimen, 1866. Dench- worth, Wait. Pusey. Powder Hill Copse. Common on the downs near the White Horse Hill (840 feet). Upton Downs. 3. Pang. Streatley, Pamplin. Compton Downs, Boswell. Bradfie'd. Between Hawkridge and Bucklebury very fine specimens 18 inches high were found, some of which were sent to the Bot. Exch. Club in 1894. Near Yattendon. Aldworth. Pangbourn. Hermitage. Tidmarsh. 4. Kennet. Sandleford Park, Russell’s Cat. Near Newbury Work- house, Weaver. Wickham, Mrs. Batson. Welford Park. Abundant near Aldermaston. Kintbury. Inkpen Common and Downs. Gibbet Hill. Little Common, Hungerford. Near Shaw. Near Ashbury, &e. 5. Loddon. Remenham, Stanton. Wellington College Brickyard, Penny. Sonning Meadows, Tufnail, Abundant about Early. Wokingham. Near Bisham. Near Cookham, &e. S. granulata oceurs in all the bordering counties. CHRYSOSPLENIUM, Linn. Gen. n. 493 (Tourn. Inst. t. 60). C. oppositifolium, Linn. Sp. Pl. 398 (1753). Golden Saxifrage. Saxifraga aurea, Ger. Em, 841. PARNASSIA 213 Top. Bot. 183. Syme, E. B. iv. 84, t. 563. Nyman, 276. Baxt. t. 140. Fl, Oxf. 129. Native. Uliginal. Shady ditches and wet places in woods. Very local. Absent from very considerable areas of the chalky and heathy districts. P. February—April. First record. Forbury near Reading, Herb. Brit. Mus. 1841. Given without locality in Britt. Contr. 1871. . Ock. Bagley Wood, Fox in Fl. Oxf.! . Pang. In a small coppice, Tilehurst, Tufnail in Fl. Oxf, Damp coppice, Bucklebury Common, Tufnail. Near Cold Ash Common. Fence Wood. . 4. Kennet. Forbury, Herb. Brit. Mus. Greenham Common, Weaver. Wickham, Mrs. Batson. Aldermaston. Loddon. Gate near Beeches, Wellington College, Penny. Cole- man’s Moor. Woodiey Green. C. oppositifolium occurs in all the bordering counties. {[C. aurErNiFouium, Linn. Sp. Pl. 398 (1753). Top. Bot. 183. Syme, E. B. iv. 85, t. 564. Nyman, 275. Fl. Oxf. 129. The locality of Bagley Wood, given in my Fl. Oxf. by the Rev. E. Fox, is incorrect ; he most probably confused the commoner C. oppositifolium, which grows there, with it. The locality of Cliveden Woods, cited correctly for Bucks in the New Bot. Guide, is said incorrectly by Mr. Britten, in his Contributions, to be in Berkshire. ] PARNASSIA, Linn. Gen. n. 345 (Tournefort, Inst. t. 246). P, palustris, Linn. Sp. Pl. 273 (1753). Grass of Parnassus. P. vulgaris et palustris, Inst. R. H. 246. Baxt. t. 70. Top. Bot. 183. Syme, E. B. iv. 86, t. 565. Nyman, 82. FI. Oxf. 44. Native. Paludal. Marshy places and bogs. Local. P. August— October. First record. Gramen Parnassi hederaceum recentiorum. In pratis et udis pascuis Angliae ad Oxoniam, Lobel. Adv. 263, 1570, and first as a British plant. 2. Ock. On the other side of Oxford in the pasture next unto Botley in the highway, Parkinson, Theatrum Botanicum, 429, 1640. In a bog between Tubney and Oakley House, in great abundance, Aug. 1833, E. Jenner in Baxt. Phaen. Bot. n. 7o. Wootton, Boswell. Frilford, abundant. Cothill. Marcham. In a bog between Ferry Hinksey and Hen Wood. Near Shippon. On Abingdon Racecourse in a marshy spot, rather plentiful. Parnassia occurs in Oxfordshire, Bucks, Gloucestershire, and in South Hants. RIBES, Linn. Gen. n. 247 (Grossularia, Tournefort, Inst. t. 409). R. Grossularia, Linn. Sp. Pl. 201 (1753). Wild Gooseberry. Comp. Cyb. Br. 177. Syme, E. B. iv. 38, t. 518. Nyman, 266. Fl. Oxf. 127. oo be Or 214 SAXIFRAGACEAE Denizen or native. Hedges, thickets, and woods ; sparingly scattered through the county. Shrub. April-May. First record. R. grossularia, Mr. Bicheno in Mawor’s Agr. Berks, 1800. In Turville Wood, Compton, near Hampstead Norris, Mr. J. Lousley in Russell's Cat. 1839. Bisham Wood, Mr. G. G. Mill in Phyt. i. 987, 1843. The type has the ripe fruit clothed with glandular hairs. I have seen it at Wytham, Buscot, Appleton, Marcham, Bagley Wood, Radley Wood, Tubney, Wittenham, Pusey, Unwell Wood, Oare, Basildon, Bradfield, Pangbourn, Ashampstead, Bucklebury, Green- ham, Inkpen, Enborne, Kintbury, Park Place, Wargrave, Ruscombe, Sandhurst ; and Mr. Tufnail reports it from Tilehurst, Shinfield, and Wokingham. Var. Uva-crispa (Linn. 1. c, as a species) = var. pubescens, Koch, Syn. Fl. Germ. 265, has the ripe fruit smooth, the leaves smaller, more pubescent and less shining than those of the preceding variety, than which it is less frequent. I have seen it at Idstone, Appleton, Cumnor, Kingston Bagpuze, Wittenham, Basildon, Yattendon, Hamp- stead Norris, Bucklebury, Sonning, Waltham, Maidenhead, Cookham, &c. -PL. 1090' (1753). Top. Bot. 513. Syme, E. B. xii. 93, t. 1860. Nyman, 865. Fl. Oxf. 360. Native. Septal. Woods and shady hedge-banks. Local and rather rare. P. July-August. : First recorded, but without a locality, by Mr. T. B. Flower in Robert- son’s Env. of Reading, 1843. 3. Pang. Near Basildon. 4, Kennet. Burghfield. Inkpen. Near Aldermaston. Near West Woodhay. 5. Loddon. Near Whistley Mill. Near Thatcher’s Ford. Var. Lopatum (Polypodium lobatum, Huds. Fl. Angl. 459.